Fake carbonara with spaghetti squash

Primi piatti

Fake carbonara with spaghetti squash

Recommended track G. F. Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks (La reyouissanse)

Do you know when things aren’t exactly what they seem? Well, sometimes that happens in the kitchen too… Today we did it partly for fun and partly to give proper recognition to this squash, which could become the best friend of those of us who are perpetually on a low-carb diet. But if you think about it, dishes that aren’t what they appear to be is a trend that was already around when we were kids… For example, breaded slices of meat that actually turned out to be little liver steaks, or, sticking to the idea that everything tastes good when fried, dogfish disguised as a giant cutlet with potatoes on the side.

So please forgive our boldness… no spaghetti, no eggs, and especially pancetta instead of guanciale, but in the end, we had fun—just like our mothers surely did when they breaded liver while grinning mischievously.

Nella foto la zucca spaghetti

Ingredients

Serves 2:

• One spaghetti squash (you can find it here: https://www.ortodeimillecolori.com/)
• 100 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 30 g milk or cream
• Diced pancetta or guanciale
• Salt
• Pepper
• Turmeric
• Extra virgin olive oil

Wash the squash, remove the stem, and cut it in half lengthwise (careful, it’s quite tough). You can remove the seeds now or after baking. Place the two halves in a baking dish lined with parchment paper, season the inside with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, then place them face-down and bake at 180/190 °C for about one hour (depending on the size of the squash).

After baking, let it cool for about ten minutes, then gently scrape the flesh with a fork—little by little it will turn into real vegetable “spaghetti.” You can do this well in advance since there’s no risk of it overcooking or sticking like regular pasta!

Now prepare the sauce: in a non-stick pan, fry the pancetta until crispy and the fat has rendered out. Once cooked, remove the cubes and set them aside. In the same pan, add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, the milk (or cream, if you prefer), season with a pinch of pepper and a teaspoon of turmeric powder (to mimic the color of egg), and let the Parmesan sauce thicken until nice and creamy.

Now assemble the dish: mix the spaghetti squash with most of the Parmesan sauce, sprinkle the pancetta cubes, add another grind of pepper, and finish with one more spoonful of the Parmesan sauce.

You can also choose to serve it inside the empty squash shell, which becomes a natural serving bowl once baked.

Give it a try and you’ll see!

For a vegetarian version, you can replace the pancetta with cubes of bread toasted in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprig of rosemary, and a clove of garlic.