So episode 186 of my squash saga continues with. . .spaghetti squash! Last summer I treated it like spaghetti and tossed it in a brown butter sauce with sausage and cheese. Hubby liked it, but it was so-so for me. This time I had the brilliant idea to make spaghetti squash latkes, aka fried veggie cakes.
Since my kids gobbled up the potato and yellow squash hash brown I made a few weeks ago, there might be a good chance they would like the spaghetti squash version. I even let them help me make it.
I halved the squash and placed it face down on a cookie sheet drizzled with olive oil. I just stuck the pan in there while my delicious paprika roast was braising in the oven. I left the squash in the oven for about 3 minutes. Once cool, the kids helped me pull out the strands (?) with a fork. They were pretty impressed. Or at least Sophia was. Quite by accident, I cooked the squash al dente which helped it from becoming too soggy when I fried them.
We mixed our spaghetti squash with an egg, salt & pepper, and a bunch of parmesan-reggiano grated cheese. I was banking on the cheesiness of my latkes to win them over.
After I flipped my first batch of the spaghetti squash latkes, I realized I had two problems. First, they were not crisping up as much as I wanted them too. Second, they were soggy in the middle. I sent a call for help on Twitter and Facebook. One friend suggested I add a bit of flour in the mixture. It didn't help as much as I liked.
My spaghetti squash cakes tasted pretty good. However, the kids immediately spit them out upon tasting. It was definitely a failure in that aspect. Hubby and I ate a few at dinner and I froze the rest. Maybe resurrecting them in the oven will help.
Here's where I think I went wrong. I used white whole wheat flour in the mixture. In hindsight, I should have used cornstarch since I don't keep white all purpose flour in my pantry. I should have also squeezed all the liquid out of the squash before adding anything to it. I was worried squeezing might have made the squash too gummy.
I still have one more spaghetti squash. Should I make a second attempt or try a new recipe?
