By October and the second trimester is almost here and the nausea is staging a tactical retreat, which I'm taking as a positive sign. Twelve weeks. The apartment smells like food again without my body having opinions about it, and I've been reclaiming the kitchen gradually: beef stew on Sunday, squash soup on Tuesday, the beginnings of real cooking returning.
Liam is fully into pumpkin season, which means every gourd at the grocery store and every doorstep decoration is his immediate business. He stands in front of pumpkins at the display outside the hardware store on Broadway and says "pump!" with the same reverence he used to say "mato" and I take it as evidence that he understands seasons even if he doesn't know the word for them. Something orange and round is important in October. He has correctly identified this.
We drove to the farm stand in Quincy on Saturday—the one with the corn maze that I've been meaning to do for two years—and Sean and Liam did the corn maze while I sat on a hay bale and ate cider donuts and watched the sky be October. The maze took forty-five minutes. Liam's role in the maze was to go the wrong direction enthusiastically whenever Sean chose the right one. They emerged looking like they'd made their peace with a verdict. Sean had a look on his face of a man who has been definitively out-navigated by a toddler.
Butternut squash soup for dinner—the first of the season—and I ate two bowls standing at the stove before I even served it, which is the sign of a good soup and also of a pregnant person in the second trimester who has her appetite back.
That first butternut squash soup of the season reminded me how much I’d missed cooking with squash — the smell of it roasting, the way it makes the whole kitchen feel like October. This spaghetti squash with pesto has become my other go-to when the gourds start piling up on the counter (and when a certain toddler is too busy yelling “pump!” at every orange vegetable to let me do anything elaborate). It’s easy enough for a Tuesday, satisfying enough for a season that deserves a real dinner, and it came together in the same window of time it takes two people to get definitively lost in a corn maze.
Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe with Pesto
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup prepared basil pesto
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prep the squash. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon.
- Season and roast. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and season evenly with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 40–45 minutes, until the flesh is easily pierced with a fork and the edges are lightly golden.
- Shred. Let the squash cool for 5 minutes, then use a fork to scrape the flesh into long strands, working from the edges toward the center. Transfer strands to a large bowl.
- Toss with pesto. Add the pesto and Parmesan to the squash strands and toss gently until evenly coated. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
- Serve. Divide among bowls or plates. Top with additional Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil if using. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 230 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 390mg