Earl Cooks Spaghetti Squash With Bacon, Butter & Parmesan

Spaghetti Squash is a favorite around our house, especially for "Turkey" (a.k.a. my wife). Over the years I have made it in many different ways, (it can even be microwaved), but my favorite way to cook it is to oven roast it.

These gems have much going for them, not the least of which is shelf life. They will last weeks after you buy them. Some treat them just like spaghetti, and ladle a nice meat sauce over them, but my wife likes them almost without anything. Tonight I am going to amp it up a bit with lots of butter, grated Parmesan and chunks of bacon.

My Zwilling J.A. Henckels 10" Slicing Knife
My mom found at a thrift store.

Step 1: The most difficult part of  cooking these is cutting them in half. I start by cutting off the stem end removing just enough of the squash to make a sturdy, flat area. I then stand it up on that flat part on my cutting board. Cutting it this way does two things 1.) It presents less resistance to my knife blade and 2.) it allows me to exert downward pressure on both sides of my LONG knife blade. This requires a very long and very sharp knife. I have a knife that I think my mother found at a thrift store years ago. It is the only one I trust and one of the few that are long enough. I find that serrated blades don't work for this application. REMINDER: NEVER, EVER place your fingers UNDER the blade! Once halved, simply remove the seeds with a large metal spoon, I used a serving spoon. scraping out any remaining fibers.
Step 2: Prepare the  freshly grated Parmesan and bacon bits. Set them aside for later.

Step 3: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Place your squash halves onto a baking sheet. I use a non-stick ¼ sheet pan. You may want to line yours with aluminum foil for easier clean-up. Coat the inside with olive oil and season. I used seasoning salt and Lawry's Seasoned Pepper. Season yours to taste, but I think ALL squash needs lots of pepper. After seasoning, add 2 tablespoons of REAL butter. Now gently turn them over, facing down on the sheet pan. Cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip them up, brush any butter or oil back on the  flesh side and cook for 15 more minutes.
Step 4: Remove from oven and flip so the flesh is up and add your bacon chunks and top that with Parmesan, reserving some for finishing. Place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so or until flesh is soft and cheese is melted.
Step 5: Remove from the oven, and with a fork gradually scrape the flesh from side to side. It will come off in long spaghetti-like strands (hence the name). Top with reserved cheese and maybe even more butter & pepper (as my top picture shows). This goes great with garlic bread and can be eaten as a main course, (like we did), or as a side dish. "Turkey" even took some for lunch the next day!