A Brooklyn Girl’s Guide To Sunday: Squash For Breakfast

There are a few things that mean winter, kitchen wise. Applesauce, apple cider, basically anything that is hot and comes in a bowl. And squash. Any kind of squash– delicata, acorn, butternut, spaghetti, hubbard, kabocha. I’m actually not a butternut squash person, in part because it takes a really long time to skin it, but mostly because I lean heavily toward spaghetti and delicata. It’s definitely not actual spaghetti, but spaghetti squash is kind of close enough, and it has this burnt crispy aspect that real pasta doesn’t get.

There’s almost nothing better in the winter than a big bowl of spaghetti squash, just scraped from the shell, with tomato sauce (bought or home made). I like to cut them in half lengthwise, even though it can be a struggle when they’re really big, and then leave them in the oven until the outside turns brown and the sides are a little bit brown and it looks kind of like fried rice. I’m the same way with delicate– I like it almost a little bit overcooked, just short of being so crispy that it turns black and is inedible.

It’s definitely not actual spaghetti, but spaghetti squash is kind of close enough, and it has this burnt crispy aspect that real pasta doesn’t get.

They’re great on their own with some salt, pepper, and olive oil or as a replacement for chips. If you have time, chop everything up, add a sweet potato and some crushed tomatoes and peppers to make a hash. Butternut squash works well for anything hash-related because it can stand up to the heat. I recommend roasting the sweet potatoes in the oven until they get soft before adding them in. Voila: a perfect winter breakfast.