What do you do with spaghetti squash?

Gardening

Aug 20

Here I am getting ready to cook my first spaghetti squash of the summer.

It weighs just short of 3 lbs. I am certain that I need to cook it as I always do. Bake it in the oven for nearly an hour. I headed to the internet to find out the amount of baking time for the squash. It’s been a full year since I’ve prepped and cooked one.

Side note: It also takes the strength of my high school sweetheart to cut the squash in half. Tough baby!

As you can see, I have cleaned out the seed cavity, rubbed it with avocado oil inside and out, and placed it in a 10 x 14 roasting pan lined with foil. I will wrap the squash for the first 40 minutes then open the foil for the remainder of cooking time. This will allow the extra moisture to cook off the squash and give it that roasted flavor.

Then I got to thinkg… Wait a minute! Let’s think this over… I saw a recipe for cooking the squash in the Instant Pot, but dismissed it because the squash is so large. BUT…

What if it would fit in my Instant Pot? 3 lbs… I don’t know. This is a good-sized squash. I know I can cook 5 lbs. of potatoes in the pot to make mashed potatoes, and there’s nothing to lose but another pan to wash, so I drag out my Instant Pot.

Oh, my goodness! This is amazing; it fits! Nothing to do now but wad up and toss the foil, put the roaster pan away, and get on with the final prep and let the Instant Pot to do its magic.

I found a blog on the internet that has good (and necessary for this first-timer) instructions. I will give you the website at the bottom of this blog.

Megan says put 1 cup water in the bottom of the pan and I did just that. I set the timer for 10-12 minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to pressure up before cooking. Let the pressure go down naturally, adding another 5 minutes, then open. If the squash is larger than 3 lbs, be sure to give it 3 extra minutes of cooking time.

Side note: I bet my grandmother rolls over in her grave this morning wishing she had such an easy way of cooking this excellent summer treat. When she was a girl, she had to walk 10 miles of country road to school and that was only one way. She also said she had to make that walk rain or shine and even in the snow. She was born in 1913, just 10 years after the first airplane flew 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk. Just think of all the past history we study; for her it was happening daily. #thingsonmymind

While waiting for the squash, I sautéed 1 cup onions (1015Y plants from Dixondale Farms, TX) in 2 tablespoons of butter. While the onions were cooking, I added a nice sprinkle of garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon of garlic salt plus a generous shake of Jackson’s Ultimate Steak Rub. I know. I’m not cooking steak, but the granules of dehydrated garlic and onion as well as black and red pepper and other secret spices really makes squash have a great flavor.

After removing half of the spaghetti squash from the shell to a medium mixing bowl, I added the onion and spices and ¼ cup of shredded a mozzarella and sharp cheddar mixture. I placed everything in a shallow baking dish (approx. 7 cups) then poured ¼ cup heavy cream over the casserole. I topped lightly with additional shredded cheeses plus a final sprinkling of a Parmesan/Asiago mixture. I put it in the microwave for 5 minutes until it was nice and bubbly. If it was wintertime, it would bake in the oven (about 20 minutes). I’m thankful I didn’t have to heat my kitchen on this hot, summer day.

Are you wondering what I did with the other half of the squash? I gave it to the neighbor!

This turned out to be a wonderful dish, though I forgot to take a picture of it right out of the microwave. Will I make again? Absolutely. I am positive IMBHO will give it a thumb’s up!

NOTE: I found this blog: Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash, which helped the cooking process greatly. I was attracted to Megan’s blog because of the name, Detoxinista . Her recipes are neutral, Paleo and vegetarian, which is pretty much how we cook.

We are blessed to have fresh produce from the garden every day. It’s a lot of hard work, gardening, but the pay off is worth it!