Anyone ever cook/eat spaghetti squash

Its my new veg in the garden this year. I see I have a couple that are 5" long. I'm not sure how big one is to let them grow??
I hope they aren't like zuchinni that can double in size overnight
Any ideas/suggestions/recipes?????

If you reference diabetic recipes that's where I've seen most of them. Basically they're a lo-carb version of pasta. I'll look in some of my recipe books and sites and see what I can come up with.

From what I remember reading about them its supposed to be just like noodles but I can't imagine pouring spaghetti sauce over squash ( but I'm thinking winter squash though(

I like spaghetti squash. There are a number of way to cook it. I like to bake it until it's really soft then scoop out the "spahetti" strands and sautee it a bit with some garlic.

To bake it: Cut it half lengthwise (takes a bit of muscle ) then scoop out the seeds and put it on a cookie sheet spray with Pam spray cut sides down and bake at about 375 degrees until about 20 minutes or until a knife goes in very easy.

Here are a couple of recipes. The last one is a search I did on one of the sites. I haven't tried any yet, but I am hoping to this summer or later this fall.

http://www.diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/470.shtml

http://vgs.diabetes.org/recipe/viewR...&CategoryID=19

Spaghetti Squash Search

THANKS!!
I'm gonna send you some squash if the two plants start producing lots of them!!

Originally Posted by GailC

Its my new veg in the garden this year. I see I have a couple that are 5" long. I'm not sure how big one is to let them grow??

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They should be around a 10" to a foot long or so before you pick them. Just look at the ones in the grocery stores for a good size comparison.

My mother in law uses spaghetti squash to make this weird low carb lasagna. While it mostly looks good, I never eat it because she adds cottage cheese.
Usually DH and I just cook it as a side dish with a little salt and pepper. If you want you can chop it up and peel it, then bake it. This would make it cook a little faster and save you scooping... though I only do it that way if I'm already chopping and peeling it for my turtles (it's a great high calcium and high fiber veggie).

Originally Posted by strange_wings

My mother in law uses spaghetti squash to make this weird low carb lasagna. While it mostly looks good, I never eat it because she adds cottage cheese.

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Yecch! I don't blame you! But some people do substitute cottage cheese for ricotta. Hey... maybe you should ask for her recipe, then make it with ricotta instead, and tell her what a fabulous discovery you've made!

I have.

They're ok. Kind of bland unless you add something to it when it's cooked.

I buy them sometimes at Safeway but have to have someone in the produce cut it for me because the skin is so thick and tough. So far as I can tell you need a hacksaw to cut it open because I've never been able to do it, not even with a really sharp cleaver. Actually I got my meat cleaver totally stuck in one. The only way I could get it out was to keep throwing the squash on the floor. Finally I stomped on it a few times and it finally broke into 3 pieces and gave me back my knife.

I just cut them in half. Paint a bit of olive oil on the open halves, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and bake them cut side down on a cookie sheet until they're done.

When they're cooked, use a fork to tear scrape out the insides. Serve.

I just have it with butter and salt and pepper and some honey or brown sugar. Even then it's bland.

I can't imagine using that as a substitution for spaghetti though. I didn't find it very filling...it's a vegetable.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I buy them sometimes at Safeway but have to have someone in the produce cut it for me because the skin is so thick and tough. So far as I can tell you need a hacksaw to cut it open because I've never been able to do it, not even with a really sharp cleaver. Actually I got my meat cleaver totally stuck in one. The only way I could get it out was to keep throwing the squash on the floor. Finally I stomped on it a few times and it finally broke into 3 pieces and gave me back my knife.

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I'm guessing you got really frustrated with that squash?

I just use a normal knife that I use for cutting up any veggie, the secret is to stab it.... really Once you start a hole you can cut all the way around it with the point of the knife inside the squash.

I'll pass on asking my mother in law for recipes... no offense meant to her, but I'm a better cook (DH agrees)

I've had it - its good - different but good. My mom bought it in the store and they were about 10-12 inches long and pretty big around. If yours are only 5 inches they still have a lot of growing to do.

I think my mom baked our squash and put butter on it while it was baking. I'm sure you can google some recipes for squash.

When its all cooked it looks like angel hair spaghetti (thin strands) and tastes like regular squash. I loved it. I'm working on my DH to try some different kinds of squash and spaghetti squash is one of them. So far he's being hesitant He likes the green round butter squash, tho I got him to eat the acorn squash. He doesn't like the yellow squash; I do tho

I've always wanted to try this, but of course being in the UK we just don't have the availability of a wide variety of squashes like you do. We have a very short growing season for them (virtually non-existent this year ) so mostly they're imported and quite costly. I will definitely keep a look out for them later in the summer though!