Learn how to make Chef John's Spaghetti Squash Carbonara, a lighter twist on the classic Italian dish. In this video, roasted spaghetti squash replaces pasta, offering a low-carb alternative without sacrificing flavor. Tossed with crispy pancetta, rich Parmesan, and a silky egg-based sauce, this dish brings together creamy, savory goodness with a healthy edge.
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00:00Hello! This is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Spaghetti Squash Carbonara!
00:07That's right! I'm going to show you what I think is the most delicious way to eat
00:12spaghetti squash. Plus, I'm also going to show you what is definitely the best
00:15technique for prepping spaghetti squash, which as far as looks and texture goes,
00:20produces the closest thing to actual pasta or noodles. And to get started, we
00:24will cut up one large spaghetti squash, which most people do lengthwise. And I
00:29did it that way for many years, until I eventually learned that cutting across
00:33the squash was so, so much better. And we'll begin this by cutting a little bit
00:37off the ends. And the skin on this is extremely hard, so until the knife blade
00:42has broken the skin a little bit, we'll apply almost no pressure. And once we are
00:46applying pressure, we'll make sure our hand is nowhere close. And yes, that
00:50piece went on the floor. But anyway, the point is, be extremely careful. And like
00:55I just said, make sure the blade of the knife is in through the skin a little
00:58bit, before you apply any significant downward pressure. And it might look like
01:02I'm using a dull knife, but I'm not. The skin really is extremely hard and
01:07glass-like. But as long as your other hand is nowhere near the knife, as you
01:11actually start to cut down, you should be fine. And the only exception for keeping
01:15your hand away from the knife, is that we are allowed to use it on top of the
01:19knife, to kind of pound down, to help drive that blade into the squash. Okay,
01:24that's fine, because your hand's on top of the blade. And there's really no
01:27danger being cut using that maneuver. But be careful anyway. And by the way, we
01:32don't need perfect uniformity here. As long as we end up with three relatively
01:36even sections, and we finish up with the exact same number of fingers we started
01:40with, we will consider this step a great success. And that's it. Now that all the
01:45hard work's done, we will take a spoon to scrape out all the seeds, before we
01:49transfer these onto a parchment lined sheet pan. And as I do this, you might
01:53notice, the fibers are running in like a circular pattern around the squash.
01:57Almost like the rings on a tree. Which is why cutting this across, as you will see
02:02once this is baked, gives us the most spaghetti-like appearance and texture.
02:06And then before these are roasted, I like to coat them with olive oil, and then
02:11sprinkle them with a generous application of salt. Since spaghetti
02:14squash is nutritious, but it's really not that delicious, unless it's well
02:18seasoned. And while I guess we can just season at the end, when we add our
02:22carbonara ingredients, I really do prefer to give it a little head start at this
02:26point. And that's it. Once our gourd is oiled and salted, we are gonna roast that
02:31in a 400 degree oven, until it's tender enough to eat, and to pull into
02:35spaghetti-like strands. Which could take anywhere between like 45 minutes and an
02:39hour and a half, depending on the size and shape of your squash. And since we
02:44have some time while that's happening, we can go ahead and prep our pancetta.
02:47Which is simply Italian cured pork belly. Oh yeah, the same stuff we make
02:51bacon out of. Which is why when we unroll this to cut it, you're gonna see it looks
02:55exactly like a cross-section of bacon. But pancetta is not smoked like most
03:00bacons are. Which is why it produces a much different flavor. And then what
03:04we'll do is cut this into like quarter inch strips, and then we'll turn the
03:07strips and cut them across every quarter inch. And no, it doesn't have to be a
03:11quarter inch. But whatever size you decide on, you should try to make them as
03:14uniform as you can. Since we want all these pieces to brown up at the same
03:18rate. And yes, if you watched our actual spaghetti carbonara video, you know we're
03:23supposed to be using guanciale. Which is cured pork jowl or cheek. But pancetta is
03:28easier to find and virtually identical. So we're going with that. Oh, be careful,
03:33sometimes there's like a wax paper on the outside, that we'll definitely want
03:36to remove before we dice. Since nobody wants to be chewing on that. But anyway,
03:41we'll go ahead and dice up about a half pound. At which point we'll place the
03:45skillet on medium-high heat, in which we've drizzled some olive oil. And then
03:50we will cook our diced pancetta, stirring occasionally, until it's caramelized and
03:54beautifully browned. And don't be afraid if when you first start out, things are
03:59looking a little juicy and there's moisture in the pan. That's totally fine.
04:03Since that's going to evaporate, at which point your pancetta is going to start
04:07pan frying in the olive oil. As well as the fat being rendered out of the pork.
04:11And once it does start sizzling and turning brown, I usually like to back the
04:15heat down to medium or medium-low. Since we don't want the smaller pieces getting
04:19too dark, before the bigger pieces are where we want them. Oh, and I did mention
04:23bacon earlier, which you can theoretically use for this. But that
04:27smoky profile might overpower the other ingredients. And we might lose that
04:31classic carbonara vibe. But anyway, use it if you want. I mean, you are after all
04:36the star of your spaghetti squash carbonara. But I'm hoping if you can find
04:40pancetta, that's what you use. In any event, once that's nicely browned, we will
04:45turn off the heat and we'll wait for our squash to finish roasting. And after
04:50about an hour and 15 minutes, this is what mine look like. And as I grab a
04:54couple forks to start pulling this apart, prepare to be amazed. Since as long as
04:59you don't overcook this and it gets all soft and mushy, you're gonna end up with
05:03something that's shockingly similar in appearance to spaghetti. And if you grab
05:07a piece to taste it, it should be tender enough to eat and not taste raw. But I
05:13think it should definitely have a little bit of texture intact. Oh, and also keep
05:17in mind, we're actually gonna put this back in the oven once it's been mixed
05:20with all the other ingredients. So if it's ever so slightly undercooked at
05:24this point, that's probably fine. And definitely better than overcooked, since
05:28when it gets to a certain point, it's gonna get very, very watery and soft, and
05:32nowhere near as useful in making a carbonara. But anyway, what we'll do is
05:36scoop all that out, and we'll set it aside while we mix up our carbonara
05:41sauce, which starts with a couple egg yolks, to which we will add a big old
05:45spoon of freshly ground black pepper, which of course is where the name
05:49carbonara comes from, since apparently those black specks look like coal dust.
05:53And what we'll do is add a splash of water, and then take a whisk and mix this
05:57very thoroughly. And once we feel like that's happened, we can go ahead and
06:02transfer our still probably hot squash in. And the reason it's nice if this
06:06stuff is still hot, is because after we transfer that in, we're gonna add some
06:10chunks of butter, as well as our cooked pancetta, and any rendered fat in the pan.
06:15And we want there to be enough heat to melt the butter, so if you roasted your
06:19squash ahead of time, I would probably melt the butter in the pan of pancetta
06:22before you add it here, since that's gonna make everything much easier to
06:25mix together with a couple forks, which is what we want to do very, very thoroughly
06:29before we add our cheeses. And while I do that, let me explain one of the only ways
06:35to screw this recipe up, and that would be to expect it to come out exactly like
06:38spaghetti carbonara. So all we're really trying to do here, is produce something
06:43that has a similar appearance, and sort of, kind of, a little bit of the same
06:46texture, that has a flavor profile very close to carbonara. And as I hope you
06:52find out, that's pretty much what you're gonna get. But anyway, once that's all
06:55mixed up, and the butter's melted in, we will add in our grated cheese, and give
07:00it another toss. And I'm using half pecorino, and half parmigiano-reggiano,
07:04but all one or the other would also be fine. And once we have that cheese
07:09evenly mixed in, we should give it a taste, since depending on the saltiness
07:13of your pancetta, and whether or not you season your squash when you roasted it,
07:17you might need another pinch of salt here. And after sampling, I decided to
07:21toss a little more in. And that's it, we'll grab some tongs and give it one
07:25last toss, at which point we can transfer it into some kind of baking
07:28dish. Since to finish this, we're gonna pop it back in the oven, so we can serve
07:33it nice and piping hot. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, when we added our
07:37pancetta back in, we should reserve a couple tablespoons, so we can garnish the
07:42top when this comes out of the oven. Alright, that's optional, but I think it
07:45looks really nice. And then once everything's been transferred in, I like
07:49to take a couple forks, and kind of tease this, just to make sure everything is not
07:54compressed. And we've sort of fluffed everything up a little bit, which might
07:58be unnecessary, and I could be overthinking this, but it just seems like
08:02something we should do. Speaking of which, I also think we should dust the top with
08:07a little more cheese, before it goes back in, so that's what I did. And that's it, we
08:13can now transfer this back into our 400 degree oven, for about 15 minutes, or
08:18until it's heated through, and hopefully it looks like this. Oh yeah, that looks
08:23very carbonara-like. And then to finish this up, we will sprinkle over any
08:27reserved pancetta, which if we're being honest, you've probably eaten most of. But
08:32whatever you have left, go ahead and apply it over the top, at which point
08:36we'll finish up with one last grating of cheese, as well as the obligatory
08:40sprinkling of chopped Italian parsley. And that's it, our Spaghetti Squash
08:44Carbonara is ready to enjoy! And that my friends, as long as you're not expecting
08:49it to taste exactly like spaghetti carbonara, is an unbelievably delicious
08:53thing to eat, and probably most likely one of the most incredible squash dishes
08:58you've ever enjoyed. And while this obviously is not going to have all the
09:02carby goodness of regular spaghetti, our squash does have a nice level of
09:06starchiness to it, which is why above and beyond the similar appearance, it works
09:10so well for a preparation like this. And you could and probably should eat this
09:14as a main course, maybe next to a nice crisp green salad, but I also think this
09:19would make a fantastic side dish, and would be perfect next to a roast
09:23chicken, or turkey, or ham, or pork loin. But whether you serve this as a side, or
09:28a main course, I really do hope you give it a try soon. So please follow the links
09:34below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more
09:37info as usual. And as always, enjoy!