Every autumn I take my kids to a pumpkin farm, sometimes several times. It’s a tradition that I love because nothing beats being outside in October, and as a mother, I do periodically try to share some deep and meaningful life lesson with my children, like, ”Look kids, food comes from somewhere other than a grocery store!”.

We pick pumpkins for carving, to be sure (check out these beauties we carved last night — that very sick pumpkin is our 100-pounder we picked up a couple weeks ago … thinking about drying some of those seeds and planting them next year!), but we also pick fresh apples, squash, and this year, pumpkins for baking! 

We have lots of fun finding the most unusual squash, making faces out of mini pumpkins using a food dehydrator, and generally creating something from our experience.  I have found that my kids are far more likely to try a new food if they grew it themselves — or at least had something to do with picking it out — so my daring food adventure with them this time was spaghetti squash!

I’m happy to report not only that making spaghetti squash is super easy, but also that I’ve now made it a few times without my kids literally picking out the very squash we ate, and they still slurped it down hungrily each time!

In fact, the first time my son tasted it, he actually questioned why this squash tasted so very much like regular pasta, and why humans hadn’t devised such a brilliant food.  “God is smart,” he said.

Indeed.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

1-2 medium spaghetti squash

Pick your squash, cut it in half and remove strings and seeds. Wrap cut side of each in foil.  Lay each half, cut side-down, on a baking sheet with enough water to cover the surface of the baking sheet.

Bake in an oven preheated to 375 F for 30 minutes, or until fork tender (cook time will vary depending on the size of your squash).  The skin will start to bubble a bit when it is totally done.  Remove from the oven and allow to sit until it is cool enough to handle.

Comb through the open sides of the cooked squash from top to bottom with a fork, creating lengths of  ”noodles.”  Serve warm with your favorite pasta sauce!

PS- if today’s World Pasta Day has you hankering for a more traditional noodle, try my easy homemade ravioli recipe!