Mission Impossible: Spaghetti Squash
Give me your poor, your misunderstood, your strong-flavored or your dark and leafies. It doesn't really matter to me, if it's a vegetable, I will pretty much eat it. Oh sure, there are some vegetables that I like more than others. I could eat aspargus by the spindly dozen, and cauliflower, give it to me any which way, roasted, steamed or in a gratin, and you have one happy diner. Other vegetables I feel more moderate about: iceberg lettuce for instance, unless it's chilled, sliced into wedges, and served with bleu cheese dressing, can be pallid. But I must admit, this one stumps me.
I'll give this spaghetti squash the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I purchased a rather bland one. But my spaghetti squash had to have been the most watery and insipid variety know to squash-eating man. Now I prepared my squash in the basic fashion-- cut in half, a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, then placed the squash, cut side down, to roast for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees.I admit it, I was enthralled with the cooked squash. Spooning the seeds out, I took a fork, and gingerly scraped the flesh from the skin. And voila! thin strands of spaghetti-like webbing were made. The transformation was almost fun. But the taste was far less dynamic. After the scraping, I tasted and was less than impressed. So I even sauteed the strands in some garlic, and good green olive oil. That was kind of...meh. But still nothing to write home about.
I often read in cooking magazines that low-carb dieters should just go ahead and use spaghetti squash instead of regular pasta in their traditional Italian suppers. Let me just say, I feel sorry for those dieters. While the vegetable variety might resemble pasta, it certainly does not have the same toothsome, starchy flavor.
But maybe I prepared this squash incorrectly. I certainly will not let the spaghetti squash die a graceful death, especially when I so love its cousins, the butternut, acorn, and kabocha to name a few. Does anyone else out there have some stupendous spaghetti squash recipe that they would like to share with me? I hate to let one squash tarnish an otherwise stellar record of equal- opportuniy eating.
16 Comments:
Squashes in general are the only vegetable I don't like, so when I eat some, I always pack the recipe with lots of things to hide the squash taste.
Pour spaghetti squash, I made a pasta-like recipe just by mixing the cooked strands with a thick tomato sauce, with plenty of onion, garlic and herbs.
It wasn't bad...
I mean "for spaghetti sqhash" of course...
As if it wasn't bad enough I don't realize when I'm reading if it's in english or in french, it's begining to affect my wrinting too! :)
Partly a factor of season and particular squash? I find it as texture and volume in a spicy sauce works best.
Spaghetti squash is about the only squash I like. I typically scrape the seeds out prior to cooking it. It seems to help the flavor, dunno why.
Also, I like to pair it with stronger-flavored foods, but not smother it with sauce. Once of my good-company dinners is a bed of spaghetti squash (peppered and buttered prior to going in the oven) with a broiled salmon fillet on it, covered with an onion-apple-raisin compote.
I agree about pairing it with something more strongly flavored. Like a spicy tomato sauce with Parmesan, sausage and lots of oregano.
I love spaghetti squash, but not as a diet food.
I often sautee the cooked strands with pesto and halved cherry tomatoes. You definitely can't depend on spaghetti squash to provide any flavor of it's own...
I recently made a baked casserole type thing with spaghetti squash. I sauteed onions and garlic, added some diced red and green peppers, added cooked and shredded squash, one can of drained diced tomatoes, one chopped chipotle pepper, corn black, beans, tex mex seasoning, and a whole lot of soy cheese - but I'm sure regular cheese would be better. I mixed this all together in a casserole dish, and baked for about and hour, until bubbly and thick. It was delicious. I actually just posted about it on my blog.
You might try going in a more sweet/savory direction. Treat the squash like you would sweet potates, with some butter and perhaps some brown sugar.
Since it has far fewer carbs than pasta, I have used it as a base for beef stroganoff...Yummy. Also good with just butter and grated cheese.
For a low-carb replacement for noodles I use zucchini ribbons, easy and delicious, with some taste and texture. I make a rockin' tuna casserole using zuccini ribbons, white tuna, and alfredo sauce and topped with grated cheese and those canned french-fried onions- beats the heck out of tuna-noodle surprise!
Oh, do I have a recipe for spaghetti squash -
'round our house, we call it "Sloppy Squash", and it's a little different every time, but it's always good.
Cut that sucker in half, scrape out the seeds, place it in a covered dish and microwave it for 10 minutes, depending on the size of the squash (you want it to still have some crunch as you're going to be baking it and it'll soften up some more when you do)
While it's steaming, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Then, on the stovetop...
brown 1 lb ground turkey in a little olive oil while at the same time sauteeing a nice fat pile of mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic and whatever else tickles yer pickle.
Combine all of that with a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (you're basically making a hearty veggie/meat sauce)
*DING!*
Your squash is done.
Let it cool a bit so you can safely handle it. Scrape your squash out of the shell, being careful to leave the shell intact.
Combine the squash with a good amount of sauce and put it back in the shell halves. Top with a healthy dose of parmesan cheese (maybe a little mozzarella or another cheese of your choice) and throw it in the oven until the cheese is nice 'n' brown.
Rub-a-dub-dub-thanks-for-the-grub!
so it's not the squashiest squash, i think it's more loved for it's novelty.
i usually make it by cutting it in half, scraping out the seeds and then placing it cut side down in a 1/4" water, and steaming it in the microwave for 10 minutes or so. then, draining the water, flip the squash over and put in a pat of butter and some brown sugar and baking it until it begins to caramelize a bit. for whatever reason, this squash works better for me as something sweet!
brown butter sage sauce, man
Yep...brown butter sage squash...and pass the grated Parmigiano at the table. Delish. And not Italian in the slightest...if anything, it's bastardized Injun food, which is why I like it 'cuz it's like me...hahaha..
I just had 2 plates mmmmmmmmm!
Read on the net how to pick em, cook em, eat em. I chose to poke with fork and boil for 20, let sit on hot water for 10, cool for 10, then cut in half. Skin was so thin and soft with no waste. I stirred with VOO, garlic, parm, and topped w/ marinara.
I will still eat pasta and squash!
See, and I think spaghetti squash is delish. Nutty, subtly sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. And speaking of mouths, mine just watered all over my keyboard from that yummy thought :-)
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