Spaghetti Squash

This is total comfort food, but made with less saturated fat and more veggies than traditional recipes.

Spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and cocoa powder, this warming bean and turkey chili pairs perfectly with the sweet fall flavor of roasted spaghetti squash in this naturally gluten-free dinner.

This recipe is inspired by one in Mollie Katzen’s book The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without. Heads up! This recipe calls for already cooked spaghetti squash.

Spice-rubbed chicken legs get roasted alongside spaghetti squash and onion for an easy sheet-pan dinner that’s bursting with bright, comforting flavors inspired by Persian cuisine.

Meet the most creamy, comforting, flavor-packed baked pasta dinner you can make without any actual pasta.

Spaghetti squash plays the part of rice noodles in this take on a Vietnamese noodle bowl.

Rather than pasta, this vegetarian version of the classic Southern Italian dish is tossed with spaghetti squash "noodles" for a delicious dinner that cooks entirely on just one sheet pan.

The key to enjoying dense winter squash more often is a time-saving ten or so minutes in the microwave. By cooking them first, you avoid the anxiety and danger of hacking a sturdy squash or your finger in half. Or, look for packages of ready-to-cook precut and peeled squash in the supermarket. After cooking, the other trick is to scoop the flesh into a casserole where it’s easy to char evenly under the broiler in a couple minutes. This way no one has to negotiate an unwieldy squash boat, and everyone gets as much or as little as they want. Make the casserole ahead and you’ll be glad come dinnertime. The trio of squash sauces shows how well squash gets along with a full range of sweet to savory flavors. One sauce is traditional—buttery and sweet with pecans. The second is a sweet-savory exotic beauty blending spicy chutney, dried cranberries, and almonds. The third, a savory tomato, mysteriously brings out the sweetness of the squash without overpowering it. Serve all three sauces with any squash combo and watch everyone duke it out for a favorite.

SMART SUBSTITUTION Spaghetti squash makes a great, gluten-free stand-in for pasta; after roasting the halved squash until tender, scrape the flesh with a fork into long spaghetti-like strands. Roasted shrimp are brightened with the addition of lemon juice and fresh parsley.

对我来说,意粉酱通常意味着世界卫生大会的jartever is on sale at the grocery store, so I wasn’t sure about how a spicy spaghetti sauce of my own creation would turn out. I have a tendency to forget that a little bit of spice goes a long way and end up sweating my way through meals. But this time I kept it under control and came up with something that isn’t particularly spicy at first but has a bit of a kick at the end. Spaghetti squash is the perfect way to keep calories in check. It has a taste and texture similar to pasta, but only about one-quarter of the calories.

The spaghetti squash gets its name from the fact that its insides, when cooked, separate into spaghetti-like strands that can be used in exactly the same way you would use spaghetti. You can either top the strands with Tomato-Mushroom Sauce (page 63) or toss it with your favorite Mexican spices. Choose a squash that will fit in the slow cooker insert. If need be, the squash can be halved to fit, but the cooking time will be shorter.

If it’s possible for squash to be considered a “fun” food, spaghetti squash certainly fits that description. Its noodlelike strands contrast nicely with the crisp turnips and snow peas in this stew.

Cooking spaghetti squash in the microwave steams the squash and the strands come out nicely—unlike cooking it in a conventional oven, which can cause the strands to bake to the skin. A simple quick fresh pesto is a snappy sauce for the steamed squash.

It’s important to avoid buying spaghetti squash that isn’t fully ripe. A spaghetti squash that isn’t ready will be extremely difficult to cut in half and won’t yield a nice, soft texture when cooked. Look for a squash that is a bright, solid yellow (not pale yellow or white in parts). Once the rind is penetrated with a knife, a ripe squash is fairly easy to cut in half. Also, be sure you have all the ingredients ready to go once the squash is cooked. You’ll want to toss everything together when the squash is still hot.

Served in its shell, this makes a dramatic presentation as part of a winter meal.

I consider spaghetti squash a “fun” vegetable and enjoy serving it to anyone who has never tried it. Everyone seems delighted by this unique squash and its spaghetti-like flesh. This is delicious accompanied by Long-Grain and Wild Rice Salad (page 50).

Italian food with added veggie value.