Roasted spaghetti squash with parmesan butter

Spaghetti squash is usually steamed but then you roast it caramelises beautifully and enhances the flavour. It's great when you start to pull the squash apart and form the spaghetti strips, just add butter and parmesan.

Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, about 2 kg  
• 50 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 20 g smoked salt
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 300 g unsalted butter, softened
• 100 g Grana Padano parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra to serve
• 1 bunch chives, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the spaghetti squash into 3-cm discs, remove the seeds and place on a baking paper-lined baking tray. Drizzle with oil and season with a little smoked salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until the strands of squash start to pull away from the skin. Remove from the oven and stand for about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the butter and grated parmesan in a bowl and stir to combine well. Season to taste with the smoked salt.
3. To serve, place 1 piece of the cooked squash on a serving plate and start to separate the spaghetti strands with a fork. Add a spoonful of parmesan butter and a sprinkling of chopped chives. Grate over a little extra parmesan and add a little more smoked salt if desired.  Serve with the remaining parmesan butter on the side.

Note

• The spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pep var. fastigata) is also referred to as vegetable spaghetti, noodle squash, vegetable marrow, spaghetti marrow and squaghetti. It is a pale yellow (or off white) oblong sized squash. It grows on a vine which creeps along the ground (exactly like zucchini, cucumber or pumpkin).

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.