This time of year, squash is plentiful and frugal. And while October seems to be all about pumpkins, the other squashes are also there, waiting for a turn to be noticed.
Squash…a good thing to fall in love with. Grandma would have approved. After all, they are cheap, easy to grow, they store well, nutritious, low carb (if you care about that sort of thing) and good grief, they are easy to cook. Especially spaghetti squash.
They look like this. Not ridiculously large, like some banana squash. A regular, run-of-the-mill, non-weightlifting mama can easily pick one up. And, you will be surprised when you hear how you cook these. The Damsel is already bracing herself for the protestations of “No! That cannot be how you do it.” But dear students, you must learn to trust the Damsel.
Preheat your oven to 375.
Pierce the squash a few times with a sharp object. A knife, or even a skewer will do.
Put the squash in a baking dish if it makes you feel better about things. But you could just put the squash in the oven naked. You could.
Bake for one hour. Carefully (because it’s hot) cut it in half. (Yours may or may not get browned like this.)
Scoop out the seeds and the weird blobby stuff in the middle.
Take a fork and pull it across the flesh, which will separate into spaghetti-like strands. Transfer into a dish. You can scrape pretty darn close to the outer shell. It’s all good.
Now, you can eat this any way that seemeth you best. It tastes very mild, so it’s often eaten with a sauce. Yes, marinara works quite nicely. But many other sauces, Italian or otherwise, would be delicious. So is butter, salt and pepper, and snipped fresh herbs like basil, sage, and chives. There is no right or wrong, so don’t fret. Just eat your squash.
The Damsel has heard of other ways of fooling with spaghetti squash. She’s heard of people cutting it up first and then baking it. She’s heard of boiling it. Or nuking it. But although she grants people their right to cook squash in freedom, she’s not sure why you would do it hard when you can do it easy.
