How to Cut & Cook Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti squash may be an intimidating vegetable at first glance, but it is so easy to prepare and fun to experiment with. Follow along and learn how to cut and cook the spaghetti squash and you'll have a great gluten free alternative to pasta.
Yield: 2 people
Calories:
Materials
- 1 spaghetti squash
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cut the spaghetti squash. You can do this lengthwise, crosswise or in slices/rings. (NOTE 1)
- With a spoon, scoop the seeds and the strands that hold the seeds. You'll end up with a clean inside or with no center (in case of the slices).
- Drizzle the insides lightly with olive oil and use your fingers to spread it out all over the inside and over the cut perimeter. You will not need a lot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub oil and spices on both sides of the rings. Use spices if you prefer.
- Turn the squash halves over, cut side down on a baking dish, lined with parchment paper. (NOTE 2) When you have squash rings, you have 2 cut sides.
- Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for about 30-35 minutes. Cook the squash rings about 20-25 minutes and turn half way through your cooking time. Don’t cook them too long, as they may become mussy. (NOTE 3)
- Once the squash is done, turn them over. You have 2 choices:
- a. With a fork, scrape/scoop out the strands, the spaghetti. Transfer the squash spaghetti in a bowl or plate and mix with a sauce.b. Fill the squash halves with your filling or sauce and serve as such. When you want to serve filled rings, first loosen some of the strands, so they can serve as a ‘bottom’ that holds the filling (or at least most of it), and transfer the filling on top. Then use a spatula to transfer the slices onto a plate.
Notes
- Cutting the squash lengthwise will give you a larger surface to showcase your sauce/filling, but the cut is a little harder to do. If you’re going to serve you dish outside the squash, I would selected the easier way to cut (crosswise).
- No need to rub with olive oil or to poke holes in the skin.
- When you cook spaghetti squash too long, the strands/spaghetti becomes mushy. It is far more enjoyable when you cook them 'al dente', so there is some bite left.