Spaghetti Squash with Sage and Brown Butter

Sage and brown butter is one of the classic simple pasta sauces and one that adapts extremely well to Paleo noodle substitutes.  My favorite noddle substitute to use with this simple sauce is spaghetti squash (something about the flavor of spaghetti squash that marries really well with butter).  This dish is absolutely divine as a side to steak, but works great beside just about any grilled meat.

It is a slightly different flavor, but this also works very well with lard instead of butter (along with omitting the pepper, this makes it autoimmune protocol-friendly too!).  A mix of tallow and coconut oil would probably work as well.

I have tried a variety of different methods to cook spaghetti squash.  They all work.  My favorite is to cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake upside down on a cookie sheet in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 375F.  I feel like the spaghetti squash is the most firm (and thus noodle like) with this cooking method.  You could also cook it whole (pierce all over with a fork first) in the oven at 375F for an hour (this has the advantage of being easier to cut and scoop out the seeds).  You could also cook it whole in the microwave (pierce all over with a fork first, and place on a plate or in a large bowl) for 10 minutes (again, super easy to cut and scoop out the seeds).  Microwave is the fastest method and one I end up falling back on when I don’t plan ahead enough.

This serves 4-5 as a side dish.  If you are going to make this dish the star of the show with some sliced grilled meat for protein, it serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

• 1 small spaghetti squash
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter (add 1 Tbsp of butter if your squash is on the larger side)
• 10-12 whole fresh sage leaves
• 1/8 tsp salt, to taste
• 1/8 tsp cracked pepper, to taste

1. Bake the spaghetti squash by your preferred method (see paragraph in the recipe intro).  Let cool until it can be handled easily.
2. Scrape out the strings of the spaghetti squash with a fork and set aside.
3. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Once melted add the sage leaves and cook until the sage is crisp, about 4-5 minutes.  Watch closely so the butter doesn’t burn.
4. Remove the crisp sage leaves and aside.
5. Add the spaghetti squash strings to the butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and gently mix together to coat the squash.  Cook 2-3 minutes, just long enough to reheat the squash.
6. Crumple sage leaves and mix back into the squash.  Serve!