Zucchini “noodles” with parsely pesto and roasted tomatoes.

June 8, 2016 Published by Dina

I mentioned a while ago that I bought the spiralizer attachment for the KitchenAid mixer, so, I am having fun playing with it and I thought I’d share this zucchini noodles dish in case you are interested. There are different spiralizers on the market if you don’t have one and you can look at a review here.

When I first made the spirals with a zucchini they started all messed up, wet and short but I let the machine run and eventually they turn into long and thin spaghetti-like strips. If you run into the same problem don’t despair and leave it running, it should fix itself.

Next I let them dry a little and exude some of the water (without salting them). I thought they would cook better that way. To dry them I place the spirals between sheets of paper towels and weighed them down with a small marble board I have. Let them sit for about 30 minutes or skip this step and let them drain a little after cooking (they will exude moisture during cooking).

All that’s left is to toss them in a skillet with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and pesto if you have it. The roasted tomatoes on the vine are nice with it as well.

I make the parsley pesto regularly and keep it in small jars in the fridge, it comes in handy in flavouring all kinds of dishes, from pasta to   vegetables to soups and salad dressing. You can find the recipe here.


 


 

Ingredients:


 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium zucchini

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup parsley pesto

Roasted tomatoes on the vine:

Tomatoes on the vine

1 tablespoon oil

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup Pine nuts


 

Directions:


 

Heat the oven to 400°F.

Place the tomatoes on a foil lines baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast for about 15 minutes until soft and turning golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Toast the pine nuts in a skillet, adding a teaspoon of olive oil. Set aside.

Cut the zucchini into spirals using a spiralizer of your choice.

Lay the spirals between two sheets on paper towels and weigh it down with a heavy board. If you don;t have a heavy board use a baking sheet and weigh it down with canned food. Let them drain for a bout 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in  a skillet, add the spirals in one or two batches (depending on the size of your skillet). Don’t over crowd them so they don’t steam. toss them in the skillet using kitchen tongs. cook only until they begin to soften, don’t over cook.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Towards the end of the cooking add the pesto and toss to coat the noodles with it.

Pile the zucchini noodles on the plate in an attractive way, set the roasted tomatoes on the vine alongside.

Drizzle more pesto around the plate and scatter the pine nuts over.

Serve immediately.


 

Zucchini spirals

Zucchini spirals

Zucchini



 

 

2 Comments

  • Debbie Hudson says:

    I oven roasted the “dried” zucchini and it was delicious. The paper towel idea with a weight worked great!

    • Dina says:

      Debbie, what a good idea to roast the “noodles”. I must try that next. Yes, I think it’s a good idea to get some of the moisture out first before cooking. Fun hearing from you.