Spaghetti squash gone rogue

While flitting and flying all over the city, in anticipation of my departure for almost 3 weeks – I haven’t been away for this long since coming back to NY from London – working at a Vietnamese cookbook launch, and attempting total denial that cooler weather is permanently upon us . . . I somehow keep making time to cook a little something.

Spaghetti squash is really fun, isn’t it? Such bright, sunny ribbons of color. I’ve never noticed before, but it smells a bit like corn on the cob once it is roasted.

It is also buttery, fresh, and one of the easiest fall vegetables to prepare – you’ll savor each crunchy bite.

You’ll need:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/3 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup grated gruyere or parmesan cheese
• olive oil

1. Rinse the squash and roast whole for 1 hour at 375F, until it is fork-tender.

2. In the meantime, infuse olive oil with red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and chopped rosemary.

3. Once the squash is roasted, cut it in half right down the middle and let cool slightly. Now onto the only annoying part – getting all those seeds out. Scrape them out with a fork and then do the same to the ribbons of squash.

4. Mix squash with the infused oil, grate cheese, add a little more olive oil on top, and mix it all together. Add a little bit of salt, to taste.