So I finally ventured into the wild world of squash. This week I’ve cooked for the first time an acorn squash, a butternut squash, and a spaghetti squash. YAY ME!
I thought I’d share my spaghetti squash adventure with you. Honestly, until this year, I had never even heard of this 8th natural wonder of the world — a squash that cooks up to look and taste like spaghetti noodles. My family loves spaghetti so I had to try it.
If you’ve never seen one, or if the squash section of the market is foreign to you, behold the spaghetti squash.
I hear you can cook them whole, but I opted for slicing it in half first. You’re gonna want a big, sharp knife.
Right down the middle, lengthwise.
Then scoop out the seeds with a spoon, just like a pumpkin. Save them for roasting, if you wish.
Now this is where I went wrong. I wish I’d done the olive oil thing, but instead I sprinkled them with sea salt and put them face-down on a foil-lined pan and ran some water in the bottom. I read a few different methods, and this is the one I chose. Mine turned out rather bland, though, and I think it may be because it soaked up the water. Or perhaps the water evaporated, and they’re always bland, but next time I’ll use olive oil and more salt.
At any rate, I popped my squash in the oven and baked at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, I dug out a bag of roasted tomatoes I had been defrosting. This is a quart sized bag, and it represents two pans full of sliced and roasted local plum tomatoes from the summertime. It didn’t amount to much, did it? But it was perfect for this dish. Whereas the squash turned out kind of bland, the tomatoes were sweet and flavorful and delicious.
While the squash cooked, I heated up some olive oil in a saute pan, threw in some freshly minced garlic, and then the tomatoes.
While that warmed up, I grated some Parmesan cheese and set it aside.
A few tweets and a glass of wine later, the squash was done. I have to admit, I was hugely skeptical. It just looked like it did when it went into the oven.
I was sure the whole spaghetti thing was going to be a huge flop. But I gamely grabbed a fork and dragged it through the center of the squash, and whaddya know!? Spaghetti!
It was like magic. The kids were enthralled.
I dug it out and plopped it into a serving bowl. Then I smeared it with a couple tablespoons of butter. Cause what isn’t better with butter?
Then I topped the whole mess of buttered squash with the tomatoes and served it up.
Spaghetti Squash with Oven Roasted Tomatoes
*Note: This is the way I wish I’d done it!*
INGREDIENTS:
Spaghetti squash
Sea salt
Olive oil
Roasted tomatoes
Garlic
Parmesan cheese
Butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
Slice the squash in half, right down the middle length-wise, with a sharp knife. Scoop out the seeds, just like a pumpkin (you can save them for roasting).
Slather the squash with olive oil and sea salt and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.
While the squash cooks, heat up some olive oil in a pan. Throw in some fresh garlic and the tomatoes.
When the squash is done, grab a fork and drag it through the center of the squash. Plop the squash in a bowl, put a couple tablespoons of butter on top, then top with tomatoes and garlic. Add the Parmesan cheese on top and serve.
The results? Honestly, they were mixed. The kids LOVED it. Hands down, each one of them exclaimed over and over how delicious it was. They didn’t all eat the tomatoes, but they gobbled up that squash.
My husband and I weren’t so impressed. It was certainly edible, but the tomatoes and cheese really made the dish. Next time I’ll bypass the water in the pan and slather the squash with olive oil as several recipes online recommended. Also, they could have used more salt, but then, I always think I need more salt.
Have you ever made spaghetti squash? How do you prepare it? What can I do to make it better next time?
P.S. I’m over at Blogging Your Way today with Blogging 101: How to Get Feed Subscribers.
We love spaghetti squash. It is fantastic in soups, with oil or butter and cheese. It is pretty good with meat sauce too. We sometimes mix it in with whole wheat noodles for differing texture.
Great ideas, thanks!
That looks good! I haven’t paired spaghetti squash with tomato sauce although I’ve seen it done before. I usually boil it and eat it as a side dish. What’s fun about squash is that it’s a North American thing. My husband, from Germany, hadn’t heard of all the different kinds of squash until I started cooking them up after we married. My favorite is butternut squash. My mother-in-law, who lives in Germany, is astounded by squash when she comes to visit. It seems like there is only one word “Kürbis” in German to describe squash and that just means pumpkin (so not an accurate description anyway).
INTERESTING! I’m surprised they don’t have it in Europe.
My family loves spaghetti squash, and we try to grow it in our garden every year. I’ve posted one of our family favorite recipes for it on food.com. Check it out if you get a chance! http://www.food.com/recipe/fresh-spaghetti-squash-casserole-378461
I am so going to try that! I just printed it out.
I remember LOVING spaghetti squash as a kid. That may be because we only ever had it at my aunt and uncle’s house, though! I haven’t had it in forever because my husband refuses to eat any kind of squash unless it’s sugared up in pumpkin pie. (Sigh.)
Pumpkin pie… yummmm.
I’ve always wanted to try this. My parents used to grow these in the garden and my Mom would always make a yummy dinner with it! Going to try this recipe as I’m trying to cut back on gluten and sugar.
P.S. Your nails look nice.
Why thank you for noticing!
It’s a rare treat.
Great timing! I have one sitting on my counter (it was in our produce co-op basket last week) and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. You’ve inspired me to try it!
We love spaghetti squash around here. I’ve never used it in place of spaghetti with a tomato sauce, we use it more as a side dish though I could sit down to just a huge bowl of it for dinner and call it good. I usually just roast mine with nothing, or do it in the micorwave. Then the one that gets the most raves is when I keep it simple and just add butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. It’s always the first to empty out on the Thanksgiving table.
Oh and here’s another one we’ve tried that went over really well:
http://susannesspace.blogspot.com/2007/10/dishes-are-done-floor-swept-left-overs.html
We like our spaghetti squash with a garlic mushroom wine sauce. I prefer spaghetti squash with white sauce rather than red.
I use spaghetti squash pretty frequently since one of my sons is gluten-free. I bake it whole, ’cause, man, those things are hard to cut in half. I am not a squash lover and my preferred method for spaghetti is to saute the cooked squash with garlic and olive oil and then top with sauce, although most of the time I just end up serving it straight up with the sauce. (Lazy, much?) Another way I do really like is to use it in place of lasagna noodles. I mix the squash with ricotta, eggs, Italian spices, etc. and layer that with sauce and cheese…sort of faux lasagna. It’s pretty good.
This one of my most favorite meals.
I recently had my first spaghetti squash adventure as well! [documented here:http://tidbitsofsarahgrace.blogspot.com/2010/10/and-i-shall-name-you-florentine.html
It was funny to see how my experience very closely paralleled yours
I was inspired by your post and made some squash spaghetti for dinner tonight. It was a first for our family, and we loved it! I used a brush to spread olive oil around the halved squash and added garlic, sea salt, and some pepper. I cooked it at 400 degrees, and it came out after about 40 minutes. It was fantastic with spaghetti sauce and cheese. Thanks for the idea!
Excellent! We liked it the second time better. I did what you did, and then just served it with butter as a side to a meat dish.
Hi Jo-lynne,
So I tried this last night for the first time and it was fantastic … different … but fantastic. I just baked the squash as is face down for 45 mins scraped out the flesh and tossed it with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I topped with pasta sauce and Parmesan cheese. Yum. Thanks for introducing me to spaghetti squash
Isn’t it GOOD!? I’m about ready to make it again. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m making spaghetti squash for the first time tonight. I ‘learned’ from your ‘mistake’ and will use olive oil. Thanks for figuring that out in advance for me.