My brother called me one day from his apartment in New Orleans and asked me if I had ever tried spaghetti squash. I heard excitement in his voice…about a vegetable. If you knew my brother, you would know what a shock this news was. I knew immediately that spaghetti squash must really be something special. He went on to tell me all the details of how you can pop a whole squash in the microwave for a few minutes, scrape it with a fork, and then viola, you have a squash that is masquerading as a pasta.
However, I like the oven more than the microwave. So when I bought my first spaghetti squash, I roasted it. Excellent decision.
The best part of this dish is when you get to turn this perfectly normal looking squash into noodles. Yes, noodles. It’s like magic. Line up the squash on a north-south axis (like the picture above), and then pull with a fork from west to east to gently separate the strands of the squash.
Whenever you make spaghetti, you need some meatballs. Duh. So then I made some delicious, healthy, lean turkey meatballs to go along with my “spaghetti”. But meatballs in the process of being made look disgusting in photographs…so I’ll just skip over those pictures and show you the pretty final product. You’ll end up with a delicious and nutritious dinner that looks like this:
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Cut the squash in half lengthwise with a sharp chefs knife. Be careful because the squash are hard and difficult to cut.*
- Scoop out the seeds and the stringy bits from the inside of the squash. You can either discard the seeds, or set them aside to roast later for a yummy snack.**
- Drizzle one teaspoon of olive oil inside of each of the cut halves, sprinkle some pepper in and rub it in. Lay squash on a lightly oiled baking sheet with the cut side down.
- Roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes. The squash is done when a fork pierces easily through the flesh to the peel.
- To get the "spaghetti" align your squash north to south – stem end facing north, tail facing south – and rake your fork from east to west (that’s the best way I could think to describe it…).
- Put the "spaghetti" into a large bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- *Cutting the squash: If you do not have a proper knife or if the squash is too hard for you to cut, some suggest to roast the squash whole in the oven and then slice in half once cooking is done, or some microwave the squash for 4-5 minutes before cutting in half and roasting the remainder of the time (if you use the microwave, adjust the time in the oven).
- *Roasting squash seeds: Separate the seeds from the squash flesh, discard the flesh. If you want to roast them immediately, rinse the seeds, dry off with a paper towel, and dump the seeds in a pile on a baking sheet. Drizzle a little oil (olive or coconut oil) on the seeds and add your favorite seasonings. Seasoning options: 1) salt and pepper, 2) paprika, cumin, garlic powder, 3) curry powder, 4) rosemary and thyme.
- 1.5 lbs lean ground turkey meat
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp paprika (smoked or regular)
- 1 tsp mustard powder (optional)
- 1 large egg, beaten lightly
- 1/2 cup oats (quick-cooking, or regular oats pulsed in blender/food processor until small pieces)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp. tomato sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- In a large bowl, combine turkey, salt, paprika, mustard powder, egg, oats, garlic, onion, and tomato sauce. Mix well by hand (or with a spoon if touching raw meat grosses you out).
- Roll the mixture into 1.5 inch balls and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Check the largest meatball by cutting in half to make sure it is no longer pink on the inside.
- You will have more servings of meatballs than spaghetti squash. You can eat the meatballs with salads, with vegetable sides, or on real pasta if that's more your style!
- Serve meatballs on spaghetti squash with parmesan cheese. Tomato sauce has never really been my thing (for my entire childhood, my mom knew to set aside a plate of pasta with butter instead of tomato sauce for me), but I'm sure this dish would be magnificent with it.
Love this post! I’ve been meaning to try squash spaghetti! Congratulations on your new blog, I hope it all goes well for you:) I have recently started a blog too if you fancy having a look it’s: https://sophitness.wordpress.com/
Happy blogging! Xx
Thanks so much for the support, Sophie! I checked out your new blog and LOVE it 🙂 Keep up the good work!