Squashed

Spaghetti squash has built itself quite the little reputation as a pasta substitute in the low carb world.

While spaghetti squash might be one of the coolest vegetables out there {what else is round and then magically turns into strings?}, it’s certainly no carb substitute in my mind.

1. I’m a fan of carbs. Carbs are good, not evil. Eat them.

2. A plateful of squash just doesn’t cut it for me.

Also, I prefer zucchini as a pasta substitute if you insist on going that route, not spaghetti squash. It’s not as fun, but it tastes better.

So I’m not a fan of swapping spaghetti squash for actual spaghetti- but I’m a huge fan of using it to bulk up a big plate of pasta by mixing it with whole grain spaghetti.

Perfect Spaghetti Squash

Pop the whole thing in the oven, as is, and roast away at 375 for an hour, or until a knife easily pierces the skin. You can also cut it in half and roast it for half the time, but getting the knife through the squash calls for some serious man power- microwaving it for a few minutes helps soften it enough to cut, but I think it’s easier to throw it in the oven and just let it do it’s thing.}

When it’s done roasting, let it cool for awhile- let me tell you how good burning steam feels coming out of freshly baked squash feels. {Not good. Have patience.}

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrap out the seeds and inner squash-y guts. When you get the light yellow part, use a fork to scrap out the squash and watch magic happen: spaghetti-like strands!

While it’s not hard to prepare, spaghetti squash does take a little bit of time to get ready, which makes it the perfect time to make a slower cooking sauce, like Bolognese. Or my preference, lentil Bolognese.

Lentil Bolognese

Bolognese is traditionally a meat sauce, but what I love about it is how hardy and thick it is- easy to replicate in a vegetarian Bolognese with lentils or even veggie crumbles.

Start with the traditional Bolognese base of onion, carrots and celery and let it simmer away while you pull out your squash strands.

Add in some tomato, spices, extra liquid and lentils, and simmer until the lentils are cooked- no soaking, pre-cooking, or separate pots here.

As your sauce boils and toils and fills your kitchen with mouthwatering smells, cook some whole grain spaghetti- I like to use a thin spaghetti or angel hair to mimic the size of the spaghetti squash strands.

Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients

2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 28oz can whole tomatoes, unsalted
1 cup dry lentils
1 cup water or vegetable broth
Spices: Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, fennel seed, pepper, red pepper flakes

Instructions

Cook carrots, celery, and onion over medium heat until softened, about 15 minutes.
Add in garlic and cook 5 more minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, then tomatoes. Break up tomatoes with spoon or kitchen shears.
Stir in lentils and water or broth.
Add seasonings of choice- be liberal with your spices.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove lid for last 5 minutes.
If sauce gets to thick, add a ladle of pasta water at the end and stir.
Serve over spaghetti or other pasta.

https://www.sideofsneakers.com/vegetarian-bolognese/

When everything’s done, put it all together and serve with a nice glass of red wine {or not} and a toasty chunk of garlic bread.

Hello, carbs, nice to see you.

Adventures in S’ghetti Squash

Recipe

It was cruel of Mother Nature to introduce another food that’s extremely difficult for kids to say. I guess she has a sense of humor. Actually I know she does- 85 degree days in October and pure darkness at 7:30 at night? Very funny.

If you’ve never had spaghetti squash before, you’ll understand the name immediately once you cook one.

I had no idea what I was getting into the first time I cooked a spaghetti squash. I thought it’d be like a butternut or acorn squash. I was very wrong.

But it was good, and I’ve made it 100 times since. Ok, maybe not 100. Maybe 5.

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

First you need to cook the squash. You can either cook the squash whole, or in halves. Cooking the squash in halves makes it cook a lot faster, but you have to channel your inner hulk to cut that thing open. Or you know, ask somebody to do it for you.

I usually make a futile attempts to cut it half before I resort to stabbing it with the knife. Partly in anger, and partly so the spaghetti squash won’t explode in the oven.

(If you manage to cut that sucker in half, you can cook it in the microwave for about 7-8 minutes and save yourself some time.)

Once you get some holes in it, roast the squash in the oven for 45 minutes at 425.

Let it cool for a little while when you take it out of the oven, otherwise you’ll burn your hands off trying to cut the hot squash. Don’t ask me how I came up with that fabulous tip.

When you can handle it (or use a towel), cut the squash in half long ways.

Now it’s kind of like carving a pumpkin. Except for the carving. And the scary faces. Just the scraping out the insides part. Scoop out the seeds and the slimy parts.

Then comes the magic spaghetti strand making part.

Using a fork, scrape the inside of the squash and watch the spaghetti like strands come out of no where.

Keep on scraping until you’re literally left with just a shell.

(Come on, you know that’s cool.)

And now you have a pot full of pasta-free spaghetti!

There’s plenty of people that eat the spaghetti squash noodles with marinara just by itself.

But I think that’s a little crazy. Maybe I just don’t like spaghetti squash enough for that madness. I like pasta in my pasta, so I usually mix in a little angel hair pasta.

Unfortunately I didn’t realize I didn’t have any actual spaghetti until after I’d cooked the squash. The husband refused to eat the squash plain, so bowtie pasta it was. It tasted fine, but it was a little…weird.

You can use any marinara sauce you want, but since the squash spends a good amount of time in the oven, I usually just make my own and let it simmer away while I get everything else ready.

Tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, and every Italian-themed spice I could think of when in the pot and bubbled away until it got thick and sauce-like.

So there you have it. Spaghetti squash in a nut shell. Easy, huh?

And it’s always cool when you get to play with your food. I can’t say for sure, but I’m pretty sure kids would think making spaghetti from squash is pretty awesome. I mean, I do.

Don’t forget to take the SoS reader survey for a chance to win a Starbucks giftcard!!