Spaghetti Squash Ideas

A friend kndly gave me a couple of beautiful Spaghetti Squash the other day- and I was determined to do them justice.
If you've never cooked this intriguing vegetable, I do recommend it. Though they look ordinary from the outside, they are anything but.

Read on to see what I did with mine.

First of all, you need to roast the beast. You can try slicing it first- but I only achieved this by placing it in a woodworking vice and sawing it with a hacksaw!
It's easier to roast it whole in a hot oven for 40 minutes or so, until you can get a knife into it easily.

Roasted until ready to be sliced

Now observe the magic. Slice in half:

Slice in half and scrape out the seeds

Scrape out the seeds ( and save them for re-planting ) and then take a fork and scrape away at the flesh. It will come away in spaghetti-like fronds:

Pull away the 'spaghetti' with a fork

You then have the basis of many different dishes- I chose first a Bolognaise Gratin.

Butter a gratin dish and mix your squash with a Bolognaise Ragout ( you don't need me to tell you how to make a Bol sauce, I'm sure)

Squash and Bolognaise Sauce

Sprinkle the top with grated cheese:

Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake

Bake at 170 degrees until brown and bubbling.

Squash Bolognaise Gratin

The leftovers went well in my Use-it-up Minestrone Soup- with the addition of some more tomato stock, some peas, green onions and orzo pasta.

Add onions, peas, pasta and tomato stock for a
Minestrone Soup

Or fry with some beaten eggs, tomato and cheese for a Bol Frittata:

Squash Bol Frittata

Next bowl of 'spaghetti' went into a Veggie Pad Thai:

Ingredients:

half a spaghetti squash - pulled into fronds

1 egg

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 block of egg noodles

3 spring onions

1 tbsp crunchy veg eg. radishes, peppers, baby corn

Pad Thai sauce- made from 3 tbsp peanut butter, 1 finely sliced chilli, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin ( or sherry )

Chopped cashew nuts for garnish

1. Cook the noodles and drain

2. Stir fry the spring onions and other veg (including the squash) in a wok

Stir fry the veg quickly

3. Mix the egg with the soy sauce 

Whisk the egg and soy sauce in a cup

4. Pour in the egg mixture and cook quickly together with the veg

Add the egg mixture and cook

5. Add the noodles and the Pad Thai sauce

Add the noodles and sauce

6. Wok cook quickly, and serve with chopped cashew nuts on top

Squash Pad Thai

The leftovers made a yummy noodle salad the next day:

Noodle salad

So, we've been to Italy with our Spag Bol Squash, and Thailand with our Pad Thai. Time for a quick trip to India to make Spaghetti Squash Bhajias.

Mix 3 tbsp spaghetti squash fronds with 1 chopped onion, 2 tsp turmeric, a tsp salt and 1 tbsp garam masala ( or curry powder ):

Mix up onion rings, squash and spices

Add 1 tbsp of gram or rice flour ( or plain flour if that's what you have in the store cupboard):

Mix in a tablespoon of flour

Add enough water to make a soft dough:

Dough ready for shaping

Shape into walnut-sized balls:

Dough shaped and ready for frying

Fry in hot oil  ( or you can bake them in the oven for a healthier version) until brown all over:

Fry ( or bake) in hot oil

Serve to accompany your curry, salad or dhal:

Spaghetti Squash Bhajias

Oh..and remember those seeds I scraped out at the beginning? I've washed them, dried them and will be planting them as soon as I can, so as I can grow my own lovely Spaghetti Squash.

'Spaghetti' Seeds for planting

I'll let you know how they do.

Just Six Eggs

I know I've blogged on this subject before- but if a thing's worth doing, it's probably worth doing again and this time I have come up with a few more cracking ways to use up a box of eggs.

My dear Mum used to say, if you have half a dozen eggs in the fridge you always have a meal. And not just one. I've got three here for you.




First of all, I'm going mad and using up three of the little chaps in a quiche. I know I make a lot of quiches but this time it's a Trout and Watercress Quiche, which feels quite special.

Bake a 20 cm pastry case blind or use a pre-prepared one for simplicity.

Let the pastry case cool down if need be, and meanwhile chop half a bag of washed watercress* quite coarsely. Take one trout fillet and cook it in the microwave for 1 minute in a microwaveable dish covered with cling film. (If you don't have a microwave - pan fry it quickly or poach until it is translucent.)

Spread the watercress over the base of the patry case, flake the cooked trout flesh (discarding the skin) over the watercress and add a thin layer of grated Emmental or strong cheddar cheese.
Beat the 3 eggs with some salt and pepper in a measuring jug and bring the level up to 500ml with some milk.
Carefully pour into the quiche shell ( it should just fit) and bake at 180 degrees until firm and golden.
Scrummy hot, cold or warm.

Trout and Watercress Quiche

*You can use up the remainder of the bag of watercress in a Salad Bag Soup.

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/super-speedy-summer-suppers.html

The next recipe is one I've adapted from a recipe book by cute Italian Gino d'Acampo. When I saw it, it struck me immediately as a genius way of using up leftover Spaghetti Bolognaise. I have some leftover sauce, but no spaghetti, so decided to use up a bit of tagliatelle I had in the storecupboard as there was such a small amount in the bag, it wouldn't make a whole portion by itself. Did it work? Well reader, it was good- so the recipe uses up whatever little bits of pasta you might have.

Just a few ingredients

This might not look like much ot make a meal for two - but the diminutive chef obviously knows how to make a little go a long way- and with the addition of some grated cheese ( Emmental, Cheddar, Parmesan or Pecorino- whatever you like) and a sliced tomato, we had a scrumptious supper.

Cook the pasta until it is al dente and mix it into your pan of leftover meat sauce:

Mix the pasta and the sauce

Beat the eggs with a splash of milk and a handful of grated cheese and pour into the pan with the pasta and sauce, top with some more cheese and a sliced tomato:

Add the eggs, cheese and a sliced tomato

Bake for 20 minutes or so in the oven at 180 degrees until set and golden. (Make sure your pan is ovenproof, or transfer it to a baking dish and smooth it level before baking):

Golden frittata

Serve it straight from the pan or turn it out onto a plate. 

Finally, I'm using the last egg in a Chef's Salad.

If you have never heard of this recipe, a Chef's Salad is basically the ultimate leftover salad dish- made from whatever the chef has left over in the fridge. No frills.

Traditionally, it is supposed to contain hard boiled egg, some kind of cold meat, grated cheese, salad leaves, tomatoes and cucumber- plus whatever else you want to put in there. I like sweetcorn and some garlicky croutons* to give it crunch. Dress the whole lot with a lemony vinaigrette, or salad cream (if you must).

* For croutons and other bready ideas go to:

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/garlic-bread-dauphinoise-and-10-other.html

Chef's Salad

If you want to see more egg-citing recipes from the blog you can follow this link:

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/week-16-take-half-dozen-eggs.html

I'll leave you now to get cracking.......