Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash has become a fall / winter staple for me, especially when I'm craving noodles. You can treat the roasted spaghetti squash like you would noodles- toss it in sauce, bake it into a casserole, stir fry it with veggies, top it with butter and Parmesan, etc. I even used it to make a Pad Thai style dish! The roasted squash also stays well in the fridge once you "spaghetti" it, so it's convenient if you want a quick dinner.

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

olive oil

salt

pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

2.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half.  Use a spoon to remove the seeds and the strands holding the seeds.

3.  Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on both halves.

4.  Place the halves, cut side down, on a baking sheet.   Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending how big your squash is.   You can test it by using a knife to pierce through the skin.  It is cooked when the knife slides through the skin and pulp easily.

5.  When it is done, pull it out of the oven and let it cool enough to handle.  Then, use a fork to gently scrape the sides.  This will form spaghetti-like strands.  You can eat the "spaghetti" as is since it is cooked, or you can cook it into a dish (saute / stir fry / bake).  The picture on the left shows spaghetti squash before (left) and after (right) using a fork to make the "spaghetti."