By now, you’ve bought your spiralizer and you’re {im}patiently wait for it to arrive. In the meantime, you’re drooling over my recipes, right? Riiight. Don’t worry, you can still eat zucchini pasta by using other methods. They don’t create “noodles” like the spiralizer- the veggies comes out more like a slaw, but tastes similarly delicious. Also if you haven’t bought a spiralizer yet, this is a great way to test the waters.
HOWEVER, you shouldn’t really cook these types of zucchini pasta: they become too mushy when put over heat. (at least the peeled and julienned ones). When you use a julienne or peeler, you don’t get a solid thickness/density, which is essential for cooking the zucchini. They do work for cold sauces (like pesto), but don’t create those little spirals that remind you of pasta!
Ways you can make zucchini pasta {without a spiralizer}
With a Julienne Peeler
You can go to your local homewares store (or sometimes they sell them in grocery stores!) and buy a julienne for $10 or less. I got the OXO Julienne Peeler for $9.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I use it to make veggie pasta salad/slaw, but it can be used to make zucchini pasta. Simply “peel” the zucchini with the peeler and voila – little veggie “pasta” strips!
With a Knife
This is a bit more time consuming, but it can be done. Basically, you need to keep slicing your zucchini into smaller and smaller strips to achieve the pasta “shape,” like this:
With a Peeler
There are many types of vegetable peelers (even potato peelers!) and the more heavy duty you get, the better, because the “peels” that it will slice will be thicker. A peeler makes pappardelle type “noodles,” as seen here:
Stay tuned tomorrow for “Skinny Sunday,” where I’ll be posting a great, low-calorie, healthy dish for those of you trying to lose weight! I’ll be doing a nutritional data count (carbs, cals, etc). Dare I compare it to its ugly cousin – regular pasta? Stay tuned… and in the meantime, get off your computer/tablet/smart phone and enjoy your healthy weekend!
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