Spaghetti Squash - done right!

Spaghetti squash:

Take one spaghetti squash, carefully cut it in half long ways. Dig out the seeds.

Pour some olive oil in the bowl shape and spread it all around. I used my hands. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning... Whatever sounds good.

I put them skin side up on a rack that fits inside my cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 mins. Turn them over and add a dollop (about 2 tbls) of real unsalted butter (in the bowl) and cover with foil. Bake for 30 more mins foil side up.

Remove from oven let cool a few mins while you prep some garlic bread and bake that... be careful, the butter is just sitting in a pool under that foil! 

Then, and this is the really exciting part, you get a fork and scrape the inside of the squash and watch the magic unfold! You'll probably need to empty the "spaghetti" into a bowl b/c there's SO much!! Scrape and scrape and scrape some more!!

Stir it up real good to even out the butter and seasonings. Toss in a little fresh Parmesan cheese and top it with your favorite meaty sauce! YUM-O!

again, no pics :( but here's another blog with a similar plan that also sounds yummy and has lots of fantastic pics! 

http://steamykitchen.com/11285-baked-spaghetti-squash-with-garlic-and-butter.html

DO NOT - and I'm serious! DO NOT THROW OUT YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH SEEDS!!! 

BONUS RECIPE!

Seperate the seeds from all the muck, rinse them really good and let them dry out on a towel. Overnight if you can wait that long. Me? no I'm not that patient. 

line the cookie sheet you used earlier with a sheet of foil. spread your clean and dry-ish seeds out on the foil. Spray with one of those low cal/no cal butter flavor sprays. sprinkle with seasoned salt. Then you bake them low (250) and slow (many hours) until they get a nice golden brown color to them. OR, if you are impatient like me, you can bake them for a little while and then turn on the broiler and and roast them quickly! be sure to give a few shakes to move them around. they will start to pop and that's when I know they are just about brown enough! 

I just LOVE these roasted seeds better than the store bought pumpkin seeds I tried to fill a craving with! yuck! the best part is that you control the flavor! I like a little season salt and a little darker brown. They taste like popcorn to me! and YES! you eat the whole seed, shell and all!