Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Saturday was the first day of fall and I had to work all day/evening.  Upon getting off, all I wanted to do was cook a good meal, stay in with the husband and watch a movie while relaxing in sweats and an over sized t-shirt.  I decided to welcome in the season by cooking a winter squash meal, but still wanted something light.  Spaghetti squash was the perfect happy medium!  It can be substituted for any pasta dish and was super easy to make (BONUS: It is full of vitamins, fiber and folic acid and is only 42 cal/serving and unlike pasta, you will not be on carb overload)!

In preparing the squash, you can boil it or cook it in the oven or the microwave.  I chose to oven-roast mine while I was prepping the side salad and cutting up everything I need for the sauce (oh and drinking some Red wine). Cut the squash lengthwise, remove the seeds and pulp, and season with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and drizzled olive oil.  Preheat the oven to 350, and then roast it for 40 minutes.

Once the squash was done, I let it stand for a few minutes and prepared my sauce.  I sautéed thinly sliced garlic in about 1/4 cup EVOO for a few minutes on medium heat.  I then added sweet Golden tomatoes and let them blister in the mixture. After 3 minutes I added thinly sliced basil and Italian Seasonings and let the sauce simmer a bit more to release all of the flavors.  Once it was ready, I used a fork to scrape the "meat" of the squash out (it just shreds into long spaghetti-like noodles) and put it in a mixing bowl.  I then added the sauce and tossed it together with fresh diced Roma tomatoes (tomatoes are in full season right now), served it with a salad and topped it all with fresh grated Parmesan cheese!  So good and healthy!

I'm curious to know, have you made spaghetti squash before? If so, how do you like it best?!