Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese — The Vegetable Version of the Comfort Recipe

Late June. Cody is on day one hundred and seventy of his sentence. The twentieth Saturday visit was Saturday morning. He has been writing his chapbook piece every night by the hall light that bleeds in under the cell door, the way he has been writing since April. He told me the title at the visit. The title is The Sister at the Stove. He said the title to me at the table. He looked at me. I did not say anything. I did not need to.

I want to put on the page that the title told me what the piece was about before I read it. The piece is about us. The piece is about him watching me cook over the year before the arrest, in the kitchen, while he was disappearing in inches, and the kitchen being the steady thing in the background of his disappearing. I have not read the piece yet. The chapbook prints in August. I will read it then.

And the recipe today is spaghetti squash mac and cheese, which I made Sunday afternoon. I had picked up a small spaghetti squash at the Tulsa Farmers Market on Saturday morning before the visit, $2.99 from a farm stand run by a man named Mr. Vargas who has been selling squash at the market for twenty-three years. I had been thinking about the recipe for months — one of those Couple Cooks ones I had filed in the back of the notebook last fall during the spaghetti-squash-put-back week.

The recipe substitutes roasted spaghetti squash strands for pasta in a real-cheese-sauce baked mac. The technique is two parts: the squash and the sauce.

The squash. Halve the spaghetti squash lengthwise (a sharp knife and patience; the skin is hard). Scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place cut-side-down on a sheet pan. Roast at 400 for forty-five minutes. The squash is done when a fork easily pierces the skin. Cool for ten minutes, then scrape the inside of each half with a fork. The flesh comes out in long noodle-like strands.

The sauce. The same five-step roux-bechamel-mornay technique I have been using all year. Three tablespoons butter melted, three tablespoons flour cooked in for a minute, two and a half cups of whole milk whisked in slowly, simmered to thicken, two cups of shredded sharp cheddar stirred in off the heat. Salt, pepper, a pinch of mustard powder.

You combine the squash strands and the cheese sauce in a buttered 9-by-9 baking pan. You top with a quarter cup of additional shredded cheese and a small handful of breadcrumbs (panko if you have it; regular if you do not). You bake at 375 for fifteen minutes until the top is brown and bubbling.

The math: spaghetti squash $2.99, butter $0.30, flour $0.10, milk $0.60, sharp cheddar $1.99, panko $0.50. Total: about $6.50 for a 9-by-9 pan that fed Mama and me for three dinners. The squash adds $3 over a pasta version but the dinner feels lighter and the cheese sauce coats the squash strands the way the magazines promise it will. Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is fancy in the way I keep telling you about, which has become her standard sentence about my Sunday batch-cooks.

The recipe is below. The trick is the cut-side-down roast for the squash and the real cheese sauce for the binder. Do not skip the breadcrumbs on top — the contrast between the soft squash inside and the crisp top is the point.

Spaghetti Squash Mac & Cheese

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
• 1/2 cup Gruyere or mozzarella, freshly shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (optional, for topping)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted (optional, for topping)

Instructions

1. Roast the squash. Preheat oven to 400°F. Carefully halve the spaghetti squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 40–45 minutes, until the flesh is fork-tender and the strands pull away easily.
2. Scrape the strands. Let the squash cool for 5 minutes. Using a fork, scrape the flesh into long spaghetti-like strands and transfer to a colander. Gently press with a paper towel to remove excess moisture — this step keeps your sauce from going watery.
3. Make the cheese sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute until lightly golden. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly, and cook 3–4 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar, Gruyere, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until fully melted and smooth.
4. Combine and transfer. Fold the spaghetti squash strands into the cheese sauce until evenly coated. Transfer the mixture into a greased 9x9-inch baking dish and spread evenly.
5. Add topping and bake. If using breadcrumbs, toss them with melted butter and scatter over the top. Bake at 400°F for 10–12 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are bubbling. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 480mg