I'm a Recipe Thief.

I made a delish dish for dinner tonight, and couldn't wait to share it with you.  I feel like my Facebook news feed and Pinterest home page have been inundated the past week with recipes that yell HEALTHY and LOW-CARB and GLUTEN FREE and SO GOOD.  I might as well jump on the bandwagon too, right?

Are you ready for it?  Yes?

Spaghetti Squash with caramelized onions and cheese in a browned butter sauce.  

I didn't make this dish with the intention of trying to be any of the yelly things above (well, except for the SO GOOD one).  I just thought it looked tasty.  I'm also going to admit right here and now that I stole this from Rachael Ray.  Sorry Rach, I tweaked it a bit.  RR drrroooooowwwwned this recipe in browned butter and cheese.  No need for that- a few tablespoons is enough.  In true RR fashion, though, this recipe has some EVOO, a pinch of salt thrown over the shoulder, and is YUM-O.  The caramelized onions were my idea, too.  What dish isn't made better by them??

Now, when RR made this dish, I only walked through the living room and back while the tv was on, so I didn't catch the whole recipe.  Oh well, I made up my own measurements for the dish.  Feel free to do the same- I'm not a big fan of measuring when I cook.

Here's what you'll need:

1 spaghetti squash (try to get a big one)  That's what she said.  God, I couldn't resist that one...too easy.
15 or so fresh sage leaves
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
A handful of either shredded or shaved parmesan cheese (or any hard cheese that you like!)
A few pinches of salt
A few pinches of pepper
A few pinches of nutmeg
Extra olive oil for drizzling

Here's what you'll do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  While the oven is heating up, slice your spaghetti squash in half the long way and scoop out the seeds.

Place your squash on a tray cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Turn the squash over so the cut side is now on the tray.  Pop that tray in the oven, and let it cook for 50-60 minutes.  (I turned a half over at 55 minutes and tried to shred it with a fork.  It began shredding easily, so I took it out of the oven.)

Killing two birds with one stone and cooking some butternut squash (on right) for later.
You only need to pay attention to the spaghetti squash on the left.

For the first thirty minutes while your squash cooks, go drink a glass of wine and read the latest news from TMZ.  Or, go clean the bathroom, paint your toes, or watch the news.  I don't care what you do, just don't stare through the oven window for 30 minutes.  You'll be bored silly.

After your squash has been cooking for a half hour, grab your onion and slice it up.  Cook them down in a pan, and attempt to caramelize them.  Or, you could do what I did and slightly burn the edges because you left your pan on too high while you were paying too much attention to the t.v. in the other room.  Lesson probably not learned, though.  I'll do it again.

Please don't judge my crappy iphone photos for this post.  I was too hungry to
worry about pulling out the camera for artsy fartsy shots.

While your onions are caramelizing, heat your butter and olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Once your butter has melted, throw your sage leaves into the pan and let them cook for a few minutes.  Pull them out, and let them rest on a paper towel for drainage.

Oh, pretty!

At this point, your squash is probably ready to come out of the oven.  Take it out, and start scraping your fork into the flesh.  It'll come apart in stringy pieces, just like spaghetti.  Could you have even imagined* such a thing would happen??  I know, I was shocked.  

*Yes, the bold, italicized, underline word was necessary.  You and I both know there is someone reading this who is thinking to themselves, "Why is she surprised?  It's called spaghetti squash for a reason".  Le Sigh.  Sarcasm is so much harder to hear in typefont Helvetica than when it comes straight from my mouth.

Shred it, baby.

Ok.  Now that your squash is spaghetti'ed, throw it in a bowl and pour your sage infused browned butter/oil over it.  Mix it up.  Plop your caramelized onions on top, followed by your parmesan cheese.  

You're almost there....remember those sage leaves you left sitting on a paper towel?  They should be crispy enough that you can just crumble them over your bowl.

Well, it may not present as the prettiest dish ever, but it sure tastes good!!

Annnnd you're done.  Take note- if you're eating this for your main course, equate 1 serving as half of the spaghetti squash, meaning the recipe serves 2.  If you're making this as a side dish, the recipe serves 4.

Enjoy!!!  (I did.)