How to Spiralize a Chayote: Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

There’s nothing like roasting tomatoes and garlic scapes before 9am and then eating a bowl...

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

There’s nothing like roasting tomatoes and garlic scapes before 9am and then eating a bowl of chayote noodles with crab, topped with a sauce made from said tomatoes and ‘scapes.

Wait a sec. Chayo-what? That’s right – chayote noodles, noodles made from chayote.

Today, we’re learning how to spiralize a chayote (it’s easier than a zucchini) and then making this succulent summer pasta.

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

Succulent’s one of those words, that what I first started food blogging, I vowed never to use. It’s so…. naughty, for lack of a better term. I feel like I have to be wearing red lipstick and heels, dipping fresh strawberries into champagne to say the word succulent.

But ‘ay, it’s Monday and I’m breaking the rules. Succulent. Succulent. Succulenttt!

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

Let’s get to that chayote.

I discovered the chayote while grocery shopping in Hoboken. When I used to live in Hoboken, I’d always go to a grocery store called “The Garden of Eden” (now known as Aspen Marketplace) because they always had the freshest, wildest produce – it was like an international farmer’s market – you can find anything from yuccas and plantains to bean sprouts and prickly pears.

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

So, I went back to that grocery store the other week, looking for inspiration. I spotted the chayote and decided to give it a try, since it looked spiralizable. SUCCESS! They spiralize so easily, so quickly and the noodles come out in perfect spirals, just like with a zucchini. I expressed my excitement first on Instagram:

Chayote is technically a fruit, but eaten more like a vegetable. The texture is just like a squash, somewhere between a cucumber and a potato. They’re extremely mild in flavor, which is why they’re perfect for spiralizing into noodles – they absorb any sauce you simmer them in.

Chayotes are native to Mexico but are cultivated in similarly warm climates worldwide. Chayotes are popular in Central American cuisine, as well as in the South (of the USA!) Chayotes are also referred to as pear squash, mirletons, cho-cho, chouchoute, or choko.

How to Spiralize a Chayote - Inspiralized.com

In Brazil, they call them “chuchus.” How about that USA/Portugal game on Sunday night, eh? It ain’t over ’til it’s over, that’s for sure. What a nail biter!

How do you spiralize them? Literally, you just center them on the blade, secure with the teeth on the handle and spiralize! Very quick and easy – no prep required. The chayote yields luscious noodles (luscious is kind of like succulent, isn’t it?)!

As for this sauce, we’re using seasonal garlic scapes, roasting them with tomatoes, thyme and oregano and pureeing them. This tomato sauce is so fresh and light, it pairs perfectly with the jumbo lump crab meat. Tossing crab meat in with pasta during the summertime (and it’s OFFICIALLY SUMMER!) is one of my favorite meals – it melts into warm sauces and creates a delicious seafood taste.

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

I’m in love with chayotes, so expect to see them on the blog more often. If you don’t have chayotes at your local grocery store, just use zucchini instead – they’re very similar in texture and taste!

 

Nutritional Information & Recipe

inspiralized

Roasted Garlic Scape and Tomato Chayote Noodles with Crab

Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 42 minutes
Servings 3

Ingredients

  • 15 ounces of tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
  • 1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 4.5 ounces one large bunch garlic scapes, diced
  • 3 chayotes about 10.5 ounces each
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup jumbo lump crab meat
  • 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On one baking tray, place in the tomato slices. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the thyme and oregano and set aside.
  • On another baking tray, place in your garlic scapes. Toss with the rest of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  • Bake both the garlic scapes and tomatoes for 25 minutes.
  • As the garlic scapes and tomatoes are baking, spiralize your chayote, using Blade C. Set aside.
  • When the tomatoes and garlic scapes are done, place into a food processor with the lemon juice and pulse until made into a sauce, with the garlic scapes pureed. Taste and adjust with more salt, if needed.
  • Place a large pot over medium heat and pour in the tomato-scape sauce. Let the sauce start to bubble and then add in the chayote noodles and crab meat. Toss to combine and cook, tossing frequently, for 3-4 minutes or until chayote noodles are al dente.
  • Divide into bowls and top with fresh parsley.
with love, Ali

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comments

  • This sounds good and I now have a new food to try - Chayote! I have never heard of Garlic Scapes (so I googled it). If I can't find them in my stores, I am assuming I can substitute some crushed garlic in it's place? If so, how much would I use? Thanks!
    • Yes - just use 2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced - throw them over the tomatoes and when they're all roasted, add them into the food processor.
      • Thank You. I made this last night and it is outstanding. Thanks for the great recipes!!
  • Hi Ali. Great recipe! Can I ask you how come my zucchini gets soggy? I remember you posted it once, can't seem to find it. Thanks!!
  • What about the pit?
  • There's a dish I make where you are supposed to stuff the chayote, which I've been making as a casserole, just chopping up the chayote (the shells just are too hard to make). However, now I know that I could just use the whole squash in spiralized form, which is much quicker and easier. I never thought about spiraling chayote. FYI, zucchini and any other squash is technically a fruit, as are peppers, eggplants, & tomatoes - even though we treat them as veggies.
  • My new inpiralizer finally arrived yesterday! I'm so looking forward to use it so I'm going to stat with this recipe. Sure looks good, too bad it is too early to find garlic scapes so I'll just use regular cloves of garlic as you suggested. Wish me luck! I was also wondering . . . do you have any other chayote recipes I can try? Thanks Ali.
  • OMGosh...where have I been..don't believe I have not checked this out until this past week. This is just too much fun (and addictive)! I have spiralized everything I had in the house and an am on the way to the market now. Thank you for the web-site and blog! (My sister is now ordering her Inspiralizer as I write!!)
  • Great recipe! Thank you for sharing. I will learn to cook this weekend, I will also add some onion to it because I really like onion. :) lol
  • This looks yummy. One question: should chayote be peeled before spiralizing?
    • Chayote are similar to zucchini in texture and flavor (although not shape). You don't have to peel them--just give them a good scrub. I was surprised to learn that although they do have a small "pit", it is very soft (not at all like an avocado) so you can just spiralize that, too.