Meet Your New Italian Friend: Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash

Everyone seems to be worrying about cutting back on carbohydrates and the complex white carbohydrates of pasta, but pasta is a great and essential part of preparing so many dishes.  If I told you that there was a way to get the same fulfillment and sensation of pasta but without the carbohydrate guilt trip you would probably think I was crazy.  There is an answer to calorie and carbohydrate packed pasta and it comes from a squash...yes a squash.  The all natural squash is your new best friend when it comes to Italian and Mediterranean dishes from now on.

Spaghetti Squash Prepared in Squash

In order to prepare spaghetti squash you need to find a medium sized squash and bake it in the oven at 375 degrees for one hour.  After it's cooked, carefully take the squash out of the oven and let it sit for five to ten minutes so it can cool down.  When the squash is cooled down a bit, cut the squash in half from top to bottom and take a spoon and carefully scoop out the seeds.  This can be a little tricky because the seeds can be hidden and slippery.  You also don't want to scoop and scrap the squash too hard because that will ruin your spaghetti consistency.  When you have all the slippery seeds out of the squash use a fork to simply scrap the squash from end to end.  You will notice that it will almost completely resemble cooked pasta!  Place the spaghetti squash in a bowl or plate and serve.  If you want to be clever and fancy you can use the empty squash half as a serving bowl.  The consistency of the spaghetti squash will have more of a crunch compared to traditional pasta.  Your mind will believe you're eating white pasta but your body will be thanking you for the nutrient rich and lack of complex white carbohydrates and unneeded calories.