Summer is officially here and for me that means….zucchini! One of my favorite ways to enjoy the bounty of zucchini coming my way is by making zucchini noodles. I love transforming my favorite pasta dishes into light, low-carb spiralized meals that satisfy and delight.
What is a spiralizer? A spiralizer is a way to turn zucchini into long strands of noodles. There are a few different ways you can go about it, depending on what shape you’re after.
You can use a regular vegetable peeler to make flat, fettuccine-type noodles.
Or you can use this julienne peeler to make shreds, like these.
Or you can use my favorite, the spiralizer, to make spaghetti-style noodles like this. I use this hand-held spiralizer to get this type of noodle.
Let me give you some tips for working with zucchini noodles. First off, I rarely heat my noodles first. If I want a warm pasta, I use a warm sauce. When I make a sauce in the Vitamix, I just toss it with my zucchini noodles straight from the blender. For me it’s a texture thing, heating will make the noodles soft, which I don’t like. Also, the noodles are going to release water…they are mostly water, after all. That being said, go easy on the sauce. Use less than you normally would with traditional pasta and just be comfortable with the fact that there will be some watery sauce left at the bottom of the bowl. You could use a cheesecloth and squeeze out your noodles, but that’s just going to take away the crunch of the zucchini and leave behind a mushy noodle.
This recipe was inspired by a delicious supper club dish made with orzo and arugula. You can use any shape of noodle for this dish, it really doesn’t matter! It’s such a delicious mix of flavor, I love the combination of pine nuts and dried cherries. This would be great to take to a picnic or barbecue, or just for an amazing weekday lunch.
I hope you’ll try zucchini noodles this summer and especially this recipe!
Lemony Zucchini Noodles with Spinach, Cherries & Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini one per person, spiralized
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach chopped
- 1/3 cup feta cheese
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 6-7 leaves fresh basil chopped
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup dried cherries coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Place pine nuts in small non-stick pan on medium heat and toast until browned.
- Wash zucchini, leave stem end on but chop off other end. Holding stem end, place zucchini into the spiralizer and twist until spiraled. Place noodles into a large bowl.
- Add pine nuts and remaining ingredients to noodles, toss well to combine.
- Serve cold or room temperature.
