How to Cook Spaghetti Squash - Properly
Every year, during the Christmas Holidays, our family gets together with my sister’s family and we put on a big, RIDICULOUS Family Talent Show. My mother’s “talent” is bringing prizes for the winner to which there are a lot, so we take it dead serious. You aren’t allowed to repeat a talent from one year to the next, and honestly, some of us ran out of real talent after year 2. None-the-less, the night is usually full of laughs and every once in a while, we are all pleasantly surprised by some real talent one of us has managed to kept hidden.
Last year, my talent was cooking spaghetti squash.
I demonstrated how to cut the squash, remove the seeds, and prepare it with Olive Oil, sea salt and pepper. Then, through the magic of the family talent show, took out a cooked squash from my oven. Everyone tried it (many for the first time). The Spaghetti Squash was a hit (as it usually is), but alas, you can imagine this talent didn’t win up against my husband’s sniper skills (he shot cups off participants heads with a nerf gun), my son’s shocking photography skills (how did he keep this a secret all these years?), or my nieces ability to correctly identify baby food she ate, blindfolded.
Basic Equipment:
Cutting Board
Sharp Knife
Spoon
Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil (or oil of your choice)
Salt/Pepper
Baking Sheet
Preheat oven to 350 and prepare the squash.
I start by cutting the stem off. This allows me to turn it on it’s end to cut the squash from top to bottom - opening it up something like this:
Next, you need to remove all the strings and seeds from the middle much like cleaning out a Pumpkin to make a Jack-O-Lantern. Lots of people mistakenly believe that the “strings” in the middle of the squash are the “spaghetti”. Not true. This will become more apparent after cooking. For now, just scrape out EVERYTHING in the center hole of the squash.
Once the center is clean, brush the entire thing with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Salt/Pepper. Turn squash face down on baking sheet and cook for 35-45 minutes depending on how “soft” you want the noodles to be.
A quick note of encouragement here: It may take you more than one try to figure out how “done” or “not done” you like your squash best. Practice makes perfect.
Once the timer goes off, remove baking sheet from oven and allow it to cool. You may need to use your hands to get as much of the “spaghetti” out of the squash as possible, so if you don’t want a burn, let it cool!
Using a fork, scrape the cooled squash starting at the outside edge. And….it’s magic! All of a sudden you see where the term “Spaghetti Squash” comes from. Remove as much as possible and discard the skin.
Spaghetti Squash will keep in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.
Blessings,
Shanna