Spaghetti Squash with Zucchini and Canadian Bacon

Spaghetti Squash with Zucchini and Canadian Bacon &

Garlic Bread

I have always wondered about this mysterious spaghetti squash. I have obviously seen pictures of it and heard of it, but have never myself made this kind of squash before. There are plenty of recipes out there for it, but Riley and I decided to free-style it instead. We looked up instructions on what degree to cook the squash at, and for how long, but other than that, we were on our own.

I have been reading a book called The Improvisational Cook, by Sally Schneider, and her book talks all about improvising in the kitchen and going off of your gut instinct. She explains that if you have leftovers, you should always use them the next night, but create something different to switch things up. Obviously. She also talks about using one ingredient that you know you have in your kitchen as inspiration to come up with an idea of what to make for dinner. Cooking is all about trying new things, and learning from your mistakes. I did make a mistake tonight, but improvised to fix it, and made it better. The more you cook, the more you learn what kinds of flavors work together and what flavors don't.

Spaghetti squash wasn't already in my kitchen, but I knew I wanted to make it for dinner. I did, however, have Canadian Bacon in my fridge, so I incorporated that into the dish, as well as half a zucchini. I thought that having a sage butter as a sauce would be good, but ended up tasting really disgusting. I have made butternut squash gnocchi before and used a sage butter on top, but because butternut squash is so sweet, the sage butter works really well for it. Spaghetti squash doesn't have much flavor on it's own, so I was feeling that this dish needed to be more salty and less sweet in the end. I ended up adding half a jar of tomato sauce that I had leftover in my fridge to mask the sweetness of the sage, and it worked out really well.

As a side, I decided to go with simple garlic bread. If you are a timid cook, I really suggest trying this recipe. It's a no brainer. I will omit the sage butter, in general. I do not suggest using it in this recipe. But whatever floats yo boat.

Spaghetti Squash 

Ingredients:

4 slices Canadian Bacon, sliced
1 spaghetti squash (literally, just a yellow squash)

1/2-1 zucchini, cut in 1/4 inch slices
1/2 jar tomato basil sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degreees
2. Puncture squash several times with a large knife

3. Cook squash for 1-1.5 hours, depending on your oven. After an hour, check it to see if it is soft enough
4. Heat olive oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini to skillet, and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes

5.  Remove zucchini, and add bacon, cooking until it browns, but isn't burned (no "ya burnt!" here)

6. Cut open cooked squash, and remove the seeds and gunk in the center.

 

7. Using two forks, spread the squash apart. It literally falls apart into spaghetti-like texture. Add bacon and zucchini

Garlic Bread 

Ingredients:

1/2 loaf sourdough bread
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan
3 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Aluminum foil

Directions:

1. Keep oven at 400 degrees
2. Mix butter and garlic together, and spread generously on both sides of the bread
3. Sprinkle cheese over one slice, and cover with the other
4. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and bake in oven for roughly 15 minutes
5. Open the foil loosely, and broil for another 5 minutes