Spaghetti Squash

I tried a new recipe recently and it was using Spaghetti squash in leau of pasta noodles. I remember trying Spaghetti Squash when I was in college and a friend of mine had baked it with butter and it was soggy and not very appetizing, so I was leery about trying to cook it again. The main goal for using spaghetti squash over traditional pasta was that it is much lower in calories and carbohydrates.




1 Cup of cooked spaghetti pasta has 220 calories and 40 g of carbohydrates

1 Cup of cooked spaghetti squash has 42 calories and only 4 g of carbohydrates.



Here's a picture tutorial for how to cook a Spaghetti Squash.



1. Cut the spaghetti Squash in Half.

2. Remove the seeds (similar to a pumpkin) from the center of the squash.

3. You can either bake in the oven, or cook in the microwave. To cook in the microwave place on microwave safe dish and cover with seran/cling wrap. Cook on High for 8 minutes. Be careful when you remove from the microwave, the steam trapped in the cling wrap is hot.

4. Use a fork and pull the squash away from the skin. You'll notice it looks like....spaghetti!

5. Top with your favorite pasta sauce.

I made a home made sauce and then topped with fresh basil from my herb garden. It tasted amazing, couldn't tell it wasn't pasta, and was just as filling as regular pasta.

Stay tuned for pictures from pasta made from scratch (another posting...)



Kristen