Spaghetti Squash

There is an abundance of Spaghetti Squash at this time of year. Up until last year, I was intimidated by this (and most) squash. I stopped by an Amish farm stand and spoke with a wonderful mother and daughter about this produce. They explained to me how easy it was to cook and prepare. This was one of their favorite meals served with either a marinara or meat sauce.

I thought that if you are like me, you may have passed this up at your local farm stand or grocery store because you don't know how to prepare it either. So I decided to take pictures of how I made this squash. It really is easy!!!

First, you want to choose one that is blemish free. There is quite a bit of "spaghetti" inside so choose according to your family size. (The first time I made this, I had a fairly large squash and we were eating it for a few days.)

With a large, sharp knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. As you can see, there are quite a few seeds inside. (Not sure if you can roast these like pumpkin seeds but I would think that they would be comparable.)

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp with a large spoon. Make sure you leave the flesh of the squash intact.

Place squash, cut side down, in roasting pan. (I used a 9x13 glass baking pan.) You can add a little bit of water if you would like, but I found that this wasn't critical.

Cover tightly with foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 1 hour.

Squash is cooked when fork tender.

Allow to cool enough to handle. Place in large bowl and with fork begin scraping out the "spaghetti". Keep scraping until all strands are removed and you are left with an empty shell.

As you can see, you do wind up with quite a bit of spaghetti. This squash is somewhat bland but yet there is a hint of sweetness to it. You can serve this with a tomato based sauce if you'd like. Or, try some warmed olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Makes a great main dish or side dish.

Enjoy!