My Kitchen Staples: Spaghetti Squash

Yeah, so I am one of those people with a food allergy.  My body has some sort of immune response to gluten.  Not celiac, but still annoying.  When I used to go out for Italian food, I always thought it was the garlic and onions that gave me indigestion and a stomachache.  I’ve traveled to Italy several times for vacation and work, and while there, I blamed any tummy troubles on the fact that I ate gelato, nutella, panini, prosciutto, cheese, and pretty much anything else I could get my hands on all day, then ended the night with a lot of red wine and a huge meal (usually pasta) eaten at 9pm.  I guess it was the pasta.

While I don’t keep a complete gluten-free diet (I was told I didn’t need to do that), I do try to keep my wheat consumption down.  Except when I am craving pancakes.  Or a Boli from Stuff Yer Face.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, Adam Richman from Man v. Food will help you understand why I have to give in sometimes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6otbUX6Or4]
So enter the Spaghetti Squash.

While not an exact replacement for pasta, it does give a similar look and feel, and provides a great vehicle for all of the yummy sauces I like to make.  Those recipes will follow.  Right now, it’s just the basics.

My friend, The Half-Baked Housewife, likes to use the microwave method.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I am sure it works great.  I have always cooked it in the oven.  It takes longer, but you don’t have to pay attention to it for at least the first half hour, and I like the little bit of caramelization it gives.  A lot of times I will get the squash cooked while The Bug is napping, and throw it in the fridge.  Then at dinner time, I just reheat it in the sauce, if that is the type of recipe I am doing, or throw it in a ceramic baking dish, covered, and warm it in the oven or microwave.

1.  Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

2.  Wash your spaghetti squash.

3.  Hack it in half with a large knife.

4.  Scrape out the seeds and the fine, stringy gunk (I use a soup spoon).

5.  Place both halves facedown on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil or cooking spray.

6.  Put the baking pan into the preheated oven.

7.  Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of your squash, maybe a bit longer if you have a really big one), or until the outside is slight browned, and the flesh is soft enough to be scraped out easily with a fork.  I usually start poke it with a fork around 30 minutes, and then keep an eye on it if it isn’t ready.

8.  Scrape out the “noodles” with a fork (or two).

9.  Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy!

Full disclosure:  The squash I used for the “prep” photos is not the same as the one that provided the “noodles” for the last photo.  The first one I baked up more resembled a broken-strands-of-angel-hair squash.  Not what I was going for, though tasty sauteed up for lunch with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Even if you aren’t gluten-free, I hope you’ll give it a try.  It is very healthy, tasty, and a great way to work some more veggies into you or your picky kids’ diets.  And that is never a bad thing.

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Tagged as: Gluten-free, Kitchen staples, recipe, Spaghetti squash, wheat allergy