Lime and Black Pepper Spaghetti Squash

Serve with roasted cherry tomatoes, parmesan, rosemary nuts and fresh basil

This recipe was inspired by a bag of chips I bought recently that were lime and black pepper flavoured. They were delicious and I quickly decided that I love anything with lime and black pepper.


My initial idea was to create a lime and black pepper risotto or pasta dish but the wonderful maintenance man in our condo left me a beautiful basket of fresh produce from his garden.  This offering included two huge spaghetti squash and so I thought I would try this idea with the squash.  This is really easy to make and the result was delicious.  This would make an excellent side dish for fish or meat as well as a surprising appetizer.  This dish is also completely vegan (without the parmesan cheese) and is loaded with lots of flavour.  Enjoy!

You will need:  for 4 - 6 servings

• 1 medium - large spaghetti squash, halved and seeded (use a spoon to scrape out the centre flesh and seeds)
• Olive oil
• zest of 2 fresh limes
• 1/4 cup (60ml) of hazelnut oil
• fresh black pepper
• salt
• flavoured nuts of your choice, parmesan shavings and fresh basil as garnish

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1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C);
2. Drizzle olive oil over the flesh of the squash and place, cut side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet;
3. Cook in the centre of the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a sharp knife (about 30 - 40 minutes);
4. While the squash is cooking, mix the lime zest (2 limes), hazelnut oil (1/4 cup - 60ml) and freshly ground black pepper (to taste, but be generous as it should have a little kick) together in a small bowl;
5. Once the squash is cooked, remove from oven and, using a fork, scrape out the flesh (it will resemble short strands of spaghetti).  Place it is a sieve and allow to strain for 5 minutes;
6. Place the cooked squash in a bowl and gently mix in the lime, hazelnut oil and black pepper mixture;
7. Season generously with salt.
8. Serve with your choice of spiced nuts (I used the rosemary nuts from Noix du marché at the Atwater Market), fresh basil and parmesan shavings.

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