Raw Spaghetti Squash?

[HydroRaw]

Hello -- I just saw some spaghetti squash at a supermarket recently and it got me thinking of another alternative of preparing a raw "pasta" dish along with Alissa's fabulous Tomato Sauce. For those who are not familiar with it, this particular squash, when COOKED, offers it's flesh in neat little strands that are the approximate the dimension of spaghetti. Of course, I have never tried eating it raw. Is it possible to get those strands without cooking? I am, mind you, trying to refrain from buying too many gadgets all at once while getting my feet wet in raw lifestyle. Of course, a spiral slicer (Saladacco) that does the job of producing neat strands is on my wish list. In the meantime, can someone tell me that getting those spaghetti-like strands from this squash without cooking is possible? Thanks, in adavnce, for whatever information you share with me and everyone else in this forum. Have a wonderful raw day! Wayne

[rawpriestess]

YES, the squash grows with strands inside.

If you want veggie pasta, and don't want to buy a bunch of gadgets yet, there are a couple of ways to get veggie pasta.

You can use a knife and simply make thin threads, although time consuming, or you can use a vegetable peeler, like a potatoe peeler, and simply slice off thin noodles of your veggie.

I personally use zucchini, or yellow squash, the smaller the better tasting, about wrist size or smaller is a good gauge.

but you can use any kind of veggie, carrots, parsnips, yams, sweet potatotes, apples, potatoes zucchinis, yellow squash, but the zucchini and the yellow squash have the tast and texture more like pasta.

I actually used to use potatoe peeled zucchini in my fetuccini alfredo along with 1/2 pasta and 1/2 zucchini noodles even before I went raw, and I used them raw too, it was one of my sneeky "MOM" ways of getting veggies into my son.

I also used fresh spinach in my pasta sauce, he always thought they were herbs. To this day, he is now 36--he used fresh spinach in pasta sauce (he is a raw wannabe--although when he visits me he is 100% raw)

so are his 5 girls when they visit.

[Autumn]

I have wondered too about spaghetti squash. I used to love it so much (cooked). I thought it turned to strands after being cooked. Now that I know better, I'm going to have to try it raw and see what I can come up with.

[Rawkinlocs]

I remember a thread once about this and I think it was stated that it's kinda difficult to get the strands out when raw.

[rawpriestess]

Well, I would trust Rawkinloks over me, as I have never actually eaten it.

I love zucchini and yellow squash to much that those are my squashes of choice, although the pictures I have seen and the recipes I have read all say to use the spaghetti squash as is, so I ASSUMED, that it would be okay.

But who knows.

Maybe someone should actually try it then we will ALL know for sure.

[RawTruth]

Well ... the cooking/steaming "releases" the strands inside the spaghetti squash. In order to cook it, you cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and stuff, cook it, and then you scrape the lining with a fork and it comes away in spaghetti-like strands. Now ... we're raw, so we don't want to cook it, but, If you scrape at the cut-open squash with a fork, it's very difficult if not impossible to pull out and what you end up with is more chunks than strands and isn't very palatable. I might try again with a really small one to see if the younger ones are easier. If I do, I'll report again, 'k?

[rawpriestess]

Yeah, I was going by the picture on the front of the seed packet, and what I have seen at other raw potlucks.

As I actually had no personal one on one knowledge of this particular squash.

The last raw potluck I was at , they had it, and it was in strands, so either it was cooked, (which I doubt) or they just made it that way.

HUmmmmm?