Roasted Spaghetti Squash
People get intimidated by cooking a whole squash, but it’s a lot simpler than you’d think. Follow these steps for the perfect spaghetti squash, then top it with your favorite sauce. It goes great with red sauce, pesto, or just some olive oil and garlic.
Ingredients
1 whole spaghetti squash
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, smashed or coarsely chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt (to taste)
Fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Using a sharp knife, cut off the top of the squash, just below the stem. This will give you a flat surface for cutting it in half.
Put the squash on the flat end, with the butt end facing up. Cut lengthwise down the squash to split it in half. This will take some muscle.
Once split, scoop out all of the seeds and the really stringy fibers attached to the seeds.
Place the two halves on a baking sheet, flesh side up. Drizzle the inside with olive oil. Put half of the onion and garlic and onion into the hull of each half. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Flip each half over on the pan, keeping the onion and garlic inside the hull. If it falls out when you flip the squash, just lift one side and push it under.
Roast the squash for 40 minutes. You should be able to easily pierce the flesh through the skin with a fork. If it feels undercooked, continue to roast it at 10 minute intervals until it is cooked through.
Remove the squash from the oven and carefully flip each side over to allow it to cool. Once it has cooled a bit, use a fork to scrape out the squash into a mixing bowl. It should pull away easily from the skin and make “noodles” in the bowl. If it’s too hot to hold the squash in your hand while you scrape, grip one end with a pair of tongs.
If preparing it ahead of time for another meal where it will be reheated, you can allow it to cool completely before scooping out the flesh.
Reserve the roasted garlic and onion. Do not discard it! You can chop it finer and mix it into the spaghetti squash, add it to a sauce, other roasted vegetables, make a paste for a pizza… the possibilities are endless!
Top the squash with your favorite sauce. Some options:
Red sauce
Pesto
Olive Oil & Garlic
Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
Red Wine Vinaigrette
Serves 2-4
