Spaghetti Squash

[Claudia Greco]

Spaghetti squash was on sale at Whole Foods last week. 

I thought, why not, haven't had it for years.  Change is good.

Any other suggestions or recipes?

Thanks!

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I last did some (WELL drained) with some sauteed scallops. Beautifully caramelized scallops can fix just about anything.

[moosnsqrl]

I'm with Angela...stop dissin' my spaghetti squash! Actually, if you are not convert-able, it just means more for the rest of us

[Angela Alaimo]

I've got a spaghetti squash at home, just waiting for me to get there and show it some love. I think I will cook it tonight in protest, and neener neener the unappreciative lot of you with each bite!

Bacon! Maybe some bacon...

[fifi]

russ parsons has graciously put his gratin recipe into RecipeGullet here.

[Pontormo]

Egads!

I had no idea when I first posted this topic that there would be such passionate reactions from you all.

The photos above indeed look as yummy as a very good sodium nitrate free slightly charred hot dog, Mr. and Ms. Perlow.

And the gratin sounds absolutely terrific!!!!!, though I'd be tempted to use pancetta (cheaper with the added bonus of even more fat) instead of prosciutto. The funkier breadcrumbs are a wonderful addition.

Now Madison is up there on the shrine I have built to honor my lares, or household guardian spirits. Below you will find what I posted eons and eons ago, shortly after my initial post. It err somehow got lost in the mail, but I thought you might be interested to see how grate minds think alike:

MY RECOMMENDATION:

Meanwhile, I am happy to report that the gratin actually worked with the leftovers. I took a cue from Deborah Madison in Local Flavors who suggests making one with Chanterelles & cream. I used what I had, first draining and squeezing all the water out. Good move. I saute'ed sliced cri[e whatever]mini mushrooms in butter, added salt and pepper, a little fresh thyme and sour cream. Mixed all with squash. Topped with butter and Parm, baked until starting to brown. Pretty damn good!

Edited November 3, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[jhlurie]

I'm actually quite fond of the stuff, but I agree that it just plain sucks if used DIRECTLY as a pasta substitute. For one thing I just don't think it mixes all that well with tomato sauces. But there are about a hundred better other ways to use it (mostly more in places where other kinds of squash might work) and the mouthfeel of the stuff is can be much better if it's cooked a bit more (presumably as an ingredient in something else) after you extract it from the gourd.

[Carrot Top]

Oh dear. It seems that my reply to your reply must have gotten lost in the mail, too, Pontormo. Here it is, however:

I am glad you found something to do with the evil pulp. I was going to suggest perhaps draining it vigorously in a tea towel then mixing it up with an egg or two, some cream, a bit of tiny apple and onion dice, a sprinkling of "curry powder" (blasphemy but we are in America), perhaps a toss of flour then forming the weepy worms into smart little cakes like latkes for a gentle brown in the pan before serving.

That treatment might put the Devil to sleep for the amount of time it takes to pop them into your mouth.

............................................

But I still say the stuff is merely the Devil's Hairballs.

Edited November 3, 2005 by Carrot Top (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have a friend who made spaghetti squash fritters which were delicious!

[Catherine Iino]

Okay, guys, here's a recipe for southeast asian salad that will make you WANT to buy spaghetti squash:

1 small spaghetti squash, about 2 lbs.

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup Vietnamese fish sauce

2 tbsp water

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

chopped peanuts

cooked shrimp and/or pork

Cook spaghetti squash by your favorite method. Drain and separate the strands.

Whisk together the sugar, salt, vinegar, water, and fish sauce. Toss the squash strands with the dressing. Add the fresh herbs and the shrimp (I cut them in half through the back) or pork (cut into shreds). Toss, top with the peanuts, and serve.

Really good. The texture of the squash is a plus, not a poor imitation of pasta.

(By the way, I think I got the recipe from the NYTimes years ago.)

[Gifted Gourmet]

This thread actually served as an inspiration to buy spaghetti squash after not making it for several years .. and the results were quite gratifying:

Cooked it in a bit of water in my microwave, cooled it, shredded it, added golden raisins, brown sugar, nutmeg, butter and served it .... thanks for the energizing "push"!

[Carrot Top]

That looks good, Melissa.

But for a moment I thought the raisins were bacon.

It looked good that way, too.

Your photography skills are excellent.

But I must ask: Should you really be using these skills to help people *like* these bits of floordropping of devils hair? Sigh.

Edited November 5, 2005 by Carrot Top (log)

[markovitch]

you can flour them and fry them into birdsnest-like fritter things. great for nesting highly presentable mains.

[Pontormo]

I am bumping this thread up since I just finished the last of the second spaghetti sauce & mushroom gratin I've ever baked, this time with a mixture of shitake and crimini, the last of a container of heavy cream and grated parmesan. No ham or breadcrumbs since I'm supposed to be losing weight.

Anyway, I still have half of the 3 1/2 pound monster shredded and waiting in the fridge. I was planning on doing something similar to a suggestion that Petit Tete offers, only stuffing a red bell pepper, split length-wise in two, mixing it with egg, some of tonight's braised chard and maybe a little ground meat.

However, a combination of Melissa's linked fritters and Karen's advice sounds perfect, too.

Hope the thread inspires someone else, too.

[percyn]

The idea for a Spaghetti squash battle was conceived during an August picnic gathering, when our gracious hostess lamented that she did not know what to do with some seemingly overgrown Spaghetti squash, while giving a tour of her garden. Add a dozen or so food fanatics and an equal amount of wine bottles, shake in some alcohol influenced battle rules such as being able to source ingredients from the local farmers market, with a max of 5 other ingredients and you have battle Spaghetti squash in Chester County PA. Along the way we decided there would be wine pairings.

Alas, the squash that started this all perished, though the idea of the battle did not. We simply sourced the squash from the local farmers market and when we bought them all out, proceed to procure them from a local supermarket who also sourced them locally.

Contestants cooked all day in some cases and arrived at the predetermined location for final assembly. I wish I had more pictures of the prep and plates/dishes which were setup all throughout the gorgeous kitchen which luckily had sufficient counter space to allow 5-6 cooks and helpers to work efficiently without bumping into each other.

Dinner started with a Spaghetti Squash Fritter w/Tomatillo and Homemade Pepper Gelee (almost like a gastrique), paired with Wairau Riesling 2007. The dish was surprisingly light and with a good amount of acid from the Tomatillo and pepper jelly/gelee which went well with the dry Riesling.

Next was a Spaghetti Squash and Almond Ravioli w/Fried Sage paired with a Jean Marc Brocard Chablis 2005 - a delicate, well balanced dish which accentuated the mild flavor of the squash. The wine pairing worked very well with this course.

Next came a hearty yet luxurious dish of Spaghetti Squash Soup with Foie Gras and Duck Breast, paired with a Chateau Montrose 1970.

Our next course was a Casserole of Spaghetti Squash and Mushrooms paired with a Baronnie d'Estouard Vacqueyras 2000, brought back from the vineyard in France - A great dish which achieved a good balance of Shitake and crimi mushroom flavors along with the flavor of the squash. A good way to get your kids to eat it as well.

It was around this point that the diners began to feel a bit full, though we were not even half way through the meal....and wines.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna, with Goast Cheese, Free Range Veal and Karabuta Pork Bolognese, was presented in the squash skin and paired with a simple Banfi Chianti Classico Reserva. - This dish was topped with some bread crumbs at the last minute, courtesy of Joey, which gave it a good textural element. Personally, I thought there was a bit too much cheese, but the diners seemed to like it.

Continuing with the pork theme, our next course was Roasted Pork Loin w/Spaghetti Squash and Fruit compote, paired with a Panther Creek Pinot Noir, 2004? A strong dish which accentuated the sweetness of the squash and lending just enough acid to pick it up. If the pork was slow roasted or prepared sous vide, this would have been a very hard dish to beat. The fruit compote was well prepared, though the wine must have been getting to my taste buds at this point, as I could not tell whether the fruit was apples, peach or Asian pear (there were other flavors going on besides the fruit).

Another strong contender was the Sous Vide Lamb w/Natural Jus and Mediterranean squash w/Olives and Feta, paired with Gloria Ferrer Syrah 2005. Though the lamb was seared prior to serving, the chef would have preferred a blow torch to sear the outside. Lamb was cooked @56C (if I recall) for 45 minutes. The lamb was well cooked and the olives in the acid did bring a nice briny component to the dish.

Our last entree for the night was a take on Roti Canai - made to order roti w/curried lamb and spaghetti squash stew, paired with your choice of an ice cold IPA (beer) or a Moet Chandon Sparkling Rose. Unfortunately, in the heat of preparing this dish, I forgot to take a picture of it. Probably for the better was it was not a very pretty dish - just rustic. The spice levels were kept low so as not to overpower the squash and palates.

By this point, we must have been eating for 3.5-4 hrs and people were contemplating how they would be able to get through the 3 dessert courses we had.

The solution - instead of 3 full desserts, we served a Pre-Dessert and a combined dessert.

Pre-Dessert - Spaghetti Squash Halva - similar to a rice pudding, with saffron, almond and topped with dried cranberries.

Our final course was Spaghetti Squash and Cashew Muffins w/Squash Amaretto Ice Cream, paired with a Moscato. The ice cream was creamy and went well with the muffins. Unfortunately, I do not have a pic of the martini glass with the ice cream.

Somehow, we managed to get through all the courses and wine, but the most amazing element to me was the creativity of the group, enabling us to enjoy dishes which were not merely edible, but rather dishes which you would easily find on the menus of restaurants and gladly pay for them.

It was a great night and I once again thank our host, hostess and fellow diners/cooks for a fabulous time (including the post midnight Beatles guitar hero session).

Since it is quite likely that I made some error in posting or forgot to mention a key detail, I welcome my fellow diners (particularly the eGullet members) to post on this thread and share their thoughts and encourage those who are not eGullet members to join.

Cheers

Percy

Edited September 27, 2009 by percyn (log)

[maggiethecat]

Whoa! I have a spaghetti squash in my fridge and have been contemplating how to serve it. This post is excellent inspiration, and so beautiful.

These inspirations are beyond my financial bounds, but I'm grateful. Could someone give a less graceful, less inspired way to cook spaghetti squash? You know, down and dirty.

[Doodad]

I have cooked it many ways and some are hits and some are misses.

What I found is the best though, is to treat it like rice noodles. It makes a killer Singapore mei fun. Or mei faux as we call it. Cuts the carbs for my wife and you don't miss a thing. We have subbed it in basil rolls (summer rolls whatever you call them)with less stellar results.

Pair the Mei Faux with a good Gewurtraminer and you can't go wrong.

[jdanton]

I was the cook of the fritter, and the lamb dish (it was 52 deg--Percy). I really liked the way the spaghetti squash with the lamb came out. Even given budgetary concerns--the squash part was really cheap.

The recipe was:

1 1/2 Spaghetti squash (probably 3-4 lbs raw)

Olive Oil (I did use a nice oil for flavor)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

4-5 slow roasted tomatoes (diced) *Sourced from my backyard

2-3 handfuls basil leaves crushed.

5-6 cloves roasted garlic

4 oz goat cheese *Due to the restrictions for this dinner, I used a local chevre--ideally I would have used feta

Salt and pepper to taste

The trick is to remove some of the moisture by squeezing the squash in a tea towel. For the fritters, I had to do this 3x. I wanted to make a gelee with that liquid, but it has some strange chemical properties, and I was limited on gelling agents.

The fritters were simply squeezed and resqueezed squash, fine dice of tomatillo, and some homemade breadcrumbs. They were pan fried. The pepper jelly ended up more like gastrique, and was just peppers, cider vinegar and sugar.

[percyn]

Margaret,

Most of the courses above were quite budget friendly (<$5/serving) or could be made budget friendly with a few modifications while still being true to the spirit of the dish.

For a quick weekday meal, the spaghetti squash soup would have been fine without foie gras, duck or 38yr old Bordeaux...just some crusty bread would do it for me. The casserole could be made with just button mushroom or even mushroom soup. The Lasagna with beef or a vegetarian version....you get the idea.