How to Roast Spaghetti Squash

Have you ever wondered how to roast spaghetti squash. Or what to do with it, in general? When we eat at Ruby Tuesday's, we almost always get roasted spaghetti squash and zucchini as our sides. We love it, but I never really knew how to fix it or roast it - or what else to do with it. 

Then, I sat down and figured it out. It's actually very easy.

I love this picture. The evening sun was coming in the window just right and made my spaghetti squash look just a little mysterious. That's kind of how I felt when I started to work with it. How is this thing going to make "spaghetti"?



Start by cutting the "top" end off. This is the hardest part of roasting a spaghetti squash. It is TOUGH. So, get a good sharp knife and dig in (carefully though!)



Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put the whole spaghetti squash in the oven while it's preheating. It will soften the skin just enough that you can cut it in two pieces. This is a tip that you're going to want to remember!



While the oven is preheating, line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.



Grab some spices. I used oregano leaves, cilantro leaves and basil leaves. But, be creative and use whatever your favorite spices are.



When the oven is preheated, take the spaghetti squash out and cut it in two pieced lengthwise. Here's another tip - the "spaghetti" is going to run horizontal. So, if you are going to use this in replacement for spaghetti pasta, you may want to cut it around the middle. We are using it for a side dish, so I wanted my "spaghetti" shorter, so I cut it lengthwise.
Make sense?
Good, cause it really doesn't matter, unless it matters to you.



Take an ice cream scoop and scoop out all of the seeds and "strings" that are visible in the middle. The sides will be solid like a melon.
Yay! Another use for my ice cream scoop!



Dump the seeds and strings into a bowl. The seeds can be dried and roasted just like you would pumpkin seeds.



So, now you've got two clean halves of a spaghetti squash. Put a little extra virgin olive oil in the "bowl" part of it, and smear it all over the sides and rim with your fingers.



Sprinkle your spices and some salt and pepper inside the halves.



Turn upside down (rind side out) on your cookie sheet. The olive oil will keep the spices "stuck" to the squash.

Place in oven and roast for 35-45 minutes. You can tell it's done when you can stick a knife into the rind easily.



Here they are fresh out of the oven. Just set them off to the side for 5-10 minutes to cool down so you can handle them.



This is what the inside looks like after roasting. Still looks solid.



Take a fork and start scraping the sides and bottom of the inside of the spaghetti squash. The "meat" will start tearing away in perfect little "spaghetti".



Just scrape away on both halves and put in a bowl. Don't worry, the rind feels almost like leather and all of the "meat" comes out just like this.

We ate it as a side with just these spices. BUT, you can put marinara, guacamole, chili - whatever you want on it. Just put in in regular spaghetti in place of pasta.

Share ideas on what you do with spaghetti squash!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Comments

Charnelle said…
Bosslady,
I loved your idea on placing the squash in the oven while preheating. I couldn't even cut the top off of mine prior to doing that! What a help! I re-blogged this on my blog and also shared what I did with my squash. Thanks again, and be sure to check out the blog.

http://myaccoutrements.blogspot.com/2013/08/roasted-spaghetti-squash-and-chicken.html

Love,
Charnelle
Bosslady said…
Glad you found it helpful! I am convinced there is no way to cut a spaghetti squash without doing this! I will go check out your blog. Thanks!
Unknown said…
This is awesome. Thanks so much

Tom White
Conway, NH
Unknown said…
By the way, to cut off the end, I used a meat cleaver and banged it through with a meat pounding mallet.
houndvintage said…
This is perfection, thank you!
Bosslady said…
So glad you were able to use this little tidbit! Hope everybody is enjoying roasting spaghetti squash 😊