I ran across this recipe in my YouTube feed and it peaked my interest. I only had in inkling that I may have cooked spaghetti squash at some point, but had no solid memory of doing so. And I definitely do not have any memory of consuming spaghetti squash at a restaurant or elsewhere. Therefore, it was hard for me to imagine what this dish could taste like, which intrigued me and prompted me to try it out. While the original recipe calls for pancetta, I could not find any at the store when I picked up the squash, so just used thin-cut bacon strips, (something I usually have in my refrigerator). I thought that it might have some sort of earthy, vegetable-like taste, although looking at all the types of fat used in this dish, I should have known better. The taste was indeed earthy, but the bacon, butter, and cheese really stole the show. I really liked this dish, but it is probably something I will only make very infrequently. It is a great meal on a cold, fall night, but it makes a lot and, while I did not try it, probably does not freeze well. That makes for several, heavy meals in not too many days, which can be a little too much for me. However, I could see making it for four or so as an entrée, or even more as a side dish.
The cooking process is very straightforward, and since things are reheated in the oven at the end, most things can probably be made in advance. If doing so, I would try storing the cooked and shredded squash strands separately from the cooked bacon and its resulting grease, then warm both before assembling everything. With this sort of advanced preparation, I expect that this dish could come together within 20 minutes.
Timings
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Wait: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Equipment Notes
- I used a 9x13in baking pan for this. I found this to be right on the verge of being too large, so something a little smaller may work better.
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash (mine was a little over 4lbs)
- 1T olive oil
- 2t kosher salt
- 6 strips (about 6oz) thin cut bacon, cut into 1/4in squares
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2C water
- 1T pepper
- 2T butter, cut in 1/2in cubes
- 1C parmesan cheese, thinly grated
- 2T parsley, roughly chopped
Steps
- Carefully slice off the ends of the squash and then cut in three slices of roughly similar size. This was the most dangerous part in my view as the skin of the squash is thick and dense, and the squash tends to roll on the cutting surface. Even though my knife was fairly sharp, it took a little effort to initially penetrate the skin, then some see-sawing to slice through the rest. Next time I may try just using a cleaver.
- Lay the squash slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, (they barely fit on my 1/4 sheet pan, but did even though one slice was not completely flat). Rub the olive oil and lightly sprinkle salt on both sides of the slices. The bacon and cheese will add a lot of salt to this dish, so do not salt it nearly as much as you normally would, (2t is just an estimate and you may even want to use less).
- Place the squash in a 400°F / 200°C oven, and cook for 1 hour or until lightly inserting a fork into the flesh of the squash and pulling causes the flesh to easily pull apart into strands.
- When the squash is about 15 minutes from being done, (or expected to be done–everything does not need to be ready at exactly the same time), place the bacon in a cold pan and place on a stove set to medium-high. Alternatively, if you are just preparing the squash and bacon to be put into the refrigerator then reheated later, you may cook the bacon at any time. Once the bacon starts to sizzle, cook it for about 10 minutes or until it is slightly crispy along the edges, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the egg yolks, water, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk together.
- When the squash is ready, use a couple of forks to pull all the flesh from the skin into strands. If the squash has already been shredded and placed in the refrigerator or is otherwise no longer warm, I would probably heat it for a minute or two in a microwave at 50% power, stirring a couple of times to distribute the heat.
- Add the squash strands to the bowl with the (warmed if needed) bacon along with the grease it released during cooking to the egg mixture. Toss everything well being careful to not break the strands.
- Add roughly 3/4 of the grated cheese and toss again.
- Pour the mixture into a baking dish, place in a 400°F / 200°C oven, and bake 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle the parsley and the remaining cheese on top, either while still in the baking dish if serving “family style, or after plating.