On a chilly day, warm up your house for an hour and have this simple and delicious version of spaghetti squash for lunch or as a side dish. The bright yellow-orange of the squash with flecks of green sage looks as good as it tastes, and we think the sage, olive oil, and grated cheese are a tasty match for the squash.
Serves 4 to 6
Prep time: 10 minutes before baking, 10 minutes after baking
Baking time: 1 hour
1 spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)
3 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Make slits all around the squash with a paring knife to allow steam to escape. Place the squash on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour. Test for doneness by seeing if a paring knife can be inserted easily.
While the squash bakes, in a small skillet on medium-high heat, sauté the sage in the olive oil until a little darker in color and the flavor is released, not more than a minute.
Slice the baked squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Using a fork, drag through the stringy part of the squash, remove, and put into a bowl. Add the sage, olive oil, and the cheese and toss together. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
• Add minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes when sautéing the sage.
• Instead of spaghetti squash, roast butternut or other winter squash chunks, or bake cubed butternut squash.
Serve as a side dish alongside a bean burger, such as Italian Cannellini Burgers, or serve it as your main dish, as you would spaghetti, perhaps with Walnut-Cheddar-Herb “Meatballs” and a salad.