This One's For You, Marilyn.

About a week ago, I posted another Just Ask Rosie installment, asking my readers to please offer suggestions for foods they might like to see me prepare. Loyal reader, Marilyn, of Foodies Untie, came up with this:

Marilyn said...

Rosie, I'd like to see you make spaghetti squash sometime. I've been curious to try it, but I'd like to know what I'd be getting myself into first. Thanks.

Well, Marilyn, this post is for you.

First I must set the scene.

I woke up this morning

to wonderful fog.

I love fog. Isn't it pretty? Now, Marilyn, let me say first that you're getting a toofer. That's two for one. Not only are you getting SPAGHETTI SQUASH, but you're also getting EGGPLANT. (Actually eggplant, 2 ways, but that's another post for tomorrow.) WHOOT! Let's start with the eggplant.

When buying eggplants, pick a firm, shiny one.

I cut off the cap.

Then, I peeled the pretty purple skin off.

I sliced my aubergine into 1/2 inch dices.

Placed the dices in a colander and sprinkled with a teaspoon of salt, tossing to coat well.

I let it set for about 1/2 hour to drain. You can see all the liquid that's been drawn out by the salt. This is why I've been telling you not to salt mushrooms at the beginning of your saute. The salt brings out the liquid and the shrooms would steam, not saute.

After draining the eggplant, I spread the diced pieces onto paper towels, patting the pieces with more towels to soak up more moisture and take out most of the salt. I just let the eggplant hang out at this point while I continued with my Spaghetti Squash.

And here's my spaghetti squash which hails from Mexico.

There are several ways to cook spaghetti squash. You can prick the skin and bake it in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, you can boil it, or you can steam it. I chose steaming since it seems the easiest. I added about 1 1/2 inches of water in my pot, set the squash in a colander, brought the water to a boil, covered, and steamed for about 25 - 30 minutes.

Or until the outside of the squash will cede to the pressure of your finger.

I cut the squash lengthwise, along the line where it had already naturally split from the steam. Here's what the innards of the squash look like.

What you want to do is scrape out the big yellow threads and seeds from the center, going crosswise with a big spoon ...

... thusly.

Then scrape lengthwise and the meat separates into spaghetti-like strands. At this point, I salted a spoonful, added a dab of butter, and took a taste of this sweet delicacy. This would be great on its own with just the butter and salt and some pepper.

I melted some extra light olive oil and butter in a pan, and added the spaghetti squash, sauteing for a few minutes until heated through.

Salt and pepper and that's it.

Previously, I had cooked a Schwann's baguette for garlic toast.

I minced some garlic and fresh parsley.

Added the parsley and garlic to extra light olive oil and butter and just stirred to combine. Never overcook garlic. It makes it bitter.

Added in the sliced baguette and soaked up on both sides.

Spread out on a baking sheet and baked in a 225 degree oven for about an hour until nice and crisp.

Now, of course I wanted some meatballs to go with my spaghetti, so I pulled out my lamb balls I had made for this post for the Lamb Meatballs with Roasted Pepper Sauce and Chickpeas.

Just thawed them out and cooked ...

... just until not quite cooked through and covered in foil to continue cooking.

Next up, my tomato sauce. I have: chopped onions minced garlic chopped peeled Roma tomato 1 can Muir Glen diced tomatoes sliced mushrooms fresh parsley and basil

I cooked the mushroom slices first, then added the onions and garlic.

Next the Roma went in.

And the Muir Glen tomatoes.

Just heat through, simmer covered for a bit, and then cut off heat and let sit.

I made a chiffonade of my basil.

And here's my basil chiffonade and chopped parsley.

Right before serving, the basil and parsley went into my tomato sauce. Next, I made and Eggplant Persillade. And persillade just means parsley and garlic are in it.

First, I sauted some sliced mushrooms and eggplant in extra light olive oil and butter for about 5 minutes.

Then added in about 3 cloves minced garlic. And right before serving, I added in about 3-4 tablespoons of chopped parsley, and no, I do not have an action shot of the parsley gently cascading into the pan because I forgot so use your imagination. Ta daaaaa! My Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom and Eggplant Persillade, with Tomato Sauce, with Lamb Balls, with Garlic/Parsley Toast, with Sauteed Panko, with Grated Parmesan Cheese.

I put a bed of spaghetti squash on my serving platter, topped it with the mushroom/eggplant persillade (You can see all the parsley.), then added a bit of the sauteed Panko breadcrumbs I had left from my Cassoulet I made a while back. I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top, added a couple of lamb balls and tomato sauce, and the garlic/parsley toasts.

Now, just feast your eyes:

Even Mr. Hawthorne said this was delicious. And, as you know, it's been a while since he's handed out any superlatives. The squash was sweet, the eggplant and mushroom persillade was a nice addition and something someone would probably not know exactly what it was which is something I always like to do to the uninitiated to my cuisine. The fresh parsley just upped the ante and the lovely tomato sauce was icing on the cake. The garlic/parsley toasts were the cherry on my sundae. And I'm all out of metaphors. Once again, just good eats. Marilyn, be brave and try this. You'll be glad you did.