Spaghetti Squash Is Not Spaghetti

Posted by Brette in Food

I was intrigued by the recipe for Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash in December Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I’ve seen recipes like this before, where the idea is that spaghetti squash replaces spaghetti and I’ve always been curious, and skeptical.

This recipe is very simple – too simple. You roast the squash, cut in half, upside down in water. Then scrape the strands out. Meanwhile, you roast your shrimp in the oven (this goes very quickly of course). Serve the shrimp over the squash with lemon and parsley. That’s it.

As soon as I scraped out the squash, I knew I was in trouble. I tasted it and it was very bland and flavorless. Just like you would not serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti, there’s no way you would serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti squash, so I tried to add some flavor. First I threw in some herb butter I had hanging around. That did liven it up a bit. Somehow these kinds of squash always seem to need something sweet to me, so I added a little honey. I also added lemon juice and lots of salt and pepper.

I added the shrimp and got it to the table, but I just didn’t like it. Although the squash came out in strands, by the time I mixed ingredients into it, it had become mushy. It didn’t feel like or taste like spaghetti and the only resemblance is that it has strands.

I didn’t care for this dish at all and am marking spaghetti squash off my list! If you have a better way to prepare it, let me know!

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