You may have seen this unassuming food and written it off as “just another squash”. The outside may look normal, but the inside holds a trick that health food enthusiasts have been using for years. With this oven-baked spaghetti squash, I’m showing you how to utilize that trick for yourself.
The trick to spaghetti squash lies in its meat, or flesh. Both sound extreme, but it’s the “food” part inside the skin. If you take a fork to the cooked insides of one of these squash, it will tear apart and leave you with long ribbons, similar to spaghetti noodles. It’s closer to angel hair, really, as the strands are very fine.
Not only do these noodles have a mild, inoffensive flavor, but they have a rather pleasant texture as well; not too soft or too firm. They’re lower-calorie than traditional pasta, and are low-carb as well. Best of all, you can fix them up however you want. Using it for spaghetti and meatballs is the obvious choice. However, it’s great for “bulking up” just about anything you can put on it (roasted meats and vegetables, for example.) Even a bit of butter, salt and pepper would make this a great side dish.
If you like this how-to for spaghetti squash, check out my how-to for pan-roasted brussels sprouts.
Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
salt and pepper, as needed*
Oil, as needed
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 400 f (204 c). Cut** the squash in half length-wise, then scoop out the seeds and internal fibers with a spoon.
Cover the inside surface with oil, salt and pepper. Place face-down on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40*** minutes.
Let cool until cool enough to handle, then scrape at the insides with a fork to make noodles. If the insides seem under-cooked, bake for another ~5 minutes.
Notes
* The amount you use isn’t super important; maybe a few pinches of each per squash half. You can even leave them out entirely; just be sure to use oil (enough to keep it from sticking).
** This is the most difficult part of the procedure. Since the squash is very large and firm, you’ll want to be especially careful. If you’ve ever cut a sweet potato, it’s like that, but much larger. Again, be sure to cut down the middle, since you need to scoop out the internals.
*** This can vary depending on your squash’s size, width, etc. If nothing else, I suggest a longer cook time rather than a shorter one.
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