Yum yum, Spaghetti Squash!

I had so many plans for today...errands to run, projects to finish...but I still have a sick kiddo.  All he has is a cold, but at 13 months, he's already perfected the Man Cold.  He laid around all day moaning and wanting me to hold him, rub his back, and never ever do the one thing that might make him feel better (use the nasal aspirator). He also refused to eat much, threw milk at the dog, and followed me around whining "mamamamamama" no matter what I did.

So my plans were shot.  Since I couldn't go anywhere, however, it was a perfect day to make spaghetti squash!

Most of my recipes are fairly quick and easy, but this one is time (but not labor) intensive.  You kinda have to be home for at least 2.5 hours to make it happen.  So it's a bad idea if I'm working or out running errands, but perfect for a cold day stuck inside.  The good news?  Your labor only takes 5-10 minutes at the beginning, and about 20 minutes at the end.  The rest of the time you're just babysitting the oven.  So here's how it happens:

Let's pretend for a minute that I don't have the ugliest counters that ever existed.  And that I don't buy ginormous jugs of olive oil.  Don't judge me.  

Grab a spaghetti squash...they should be in your produce section of the grocery store by the butternut and acorn squash.  Squash is wonderful: cheap, filling, and healthy.  Butternut and acorn squash can both be used in mac and cheese and soup.  Spaghetti squash is the oblong yellow squash.  You can see the sticker on it up there.  It should be labeled.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cover a pan in foil.  I bend up the edges of my foil to catch drippings.  This isn't really necessary, but I hate doing dishes, and we have no dishwasher, so I cover pans in foil.

 Now it's time to cut the squash.  This is the most challenging part of the whole thing.  I use a long, skinny knife.  Shorter knives get stuck, while the cleaver-like knives are impossible to get through the skin.

To start, I insert the point of the knife in the squash (to cut it lengthwise), and push it all the way through.  You can see in the picture that the rind of the squash will crack (most of the time), which makes your life easier.  Wiggle the knife around until it comes loose.  Flip the squash over and do the same at the other end.  More cracking, more wiggling.

 Find the biggest crack on the squash and put your knife horizontally in that crack.  Press down.  The crack should lengthen.  You may have to repeat on the other side, but eventually the whole squash will crack in half.

 I promise

 Next, scoop out the seeds.  You can use a normal spoon, but I find an ice cream scoop works wonderfully.  If you have a pumpkin carving spoon somewhere, that would work well, too.  Pumpkins are squash, after all.

Pour a half tablespoon of olive oil in each half of the squash, then use your fingers to coat the squash halves.  You could use cooking spray for this, but I recently discovered that it will kill us all or something.  So I went out and bought a 3 liter bottle of EVOO.  

 Lay the squash face down on the foil-lined baking sheet.  Put it in the oven, set your timer for 45 minutes.
 
After 45 minutes, turn off your oven.  Leave the squash in the oven.  You can open it and check to see if the squash has gotten squishy (if you have a large squash it might need a few more minutes; you want it just a little squishy), but put it back in and close the door.

This is where my method differs from most I've seen.  Let me explain:  I had a heck of a time for awhile where my squash would either be burned and dry, or not cooked enough.  Even if I checked on it regularly, I'd miss that window of perfect squash-ness.  This method keeps the moisture/steam from the squash in, and gives gentle heat for that last little bit of cooking.  Added bonus: it will be cool enough to handle when it's done.

Leave the squash in the oven for 1 hour.  Oven off, squash in.  This is probably against every food safety guideline out there, but whatever.  It makes delicious squash.

Just out of the oven squash.  See the yummy roasted parts?

Next, use a fork to scrape from the stem end down.  The spaghetti strands will start to separate.  

 Toss with your favorite add-ons.  Tonight we had sauteed mushrooms, red onions, and italian sausage, topped with mozzarella cheese.  Yum.

Other favorites include pesto or marinara sauce (just make sure to go lightly, spaghetti squash gets soggy easily) with whatever veggies are available.

A great side dish:  toss the squash with parmesean cheese, some bread crumbs, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Yummy.

Traditional recipe format (because that's what people do):

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash (find one that's not the biggest or the smallest)
1 Tb olive oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Line a pan with aluminum foil
Using a long, skinny knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise
Scoop out the inside seeds
Coat the inside of the squash with olive oil
Place, cut side down, on foil-lined pan
Bake for 45 minutes
Turn off oven, but do not remove squash
Let it cool, in warm oven, for 1 hour
Remove from oven
Starting at the stem end, scrape "spaghetti" out of squash
Mix with your favorite toppings and eat!