A couple of months ago, my mother-in-law sent me the spiralizer attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, with the promise that it would change my life. It has taken me a while to try it out, but now that I have, I promise you this: there is no going back., because curly veggies are awesome.
Clearly, zucchini shaped like spaghetti is not a substitute for actual spaghetti… or is it? No. It’s not. But I can eat zucchini a lot more often than spaghetti, so adding some pasta-like touches makes the meal more interesting. Friday night I took out the spiralizer, and after twenty minutes of fussing, I actually read the directions. It was easy. Put zucchini on skewer and turn machine on.
Magically, after three large zucchini, I had a giant bowl of curly vegetables. It took about 2 minutes. (You know, once I figured out how to attach the thing…) I made “zucchini ziti“, long strands of zucchini baked with ricotta, marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I used no recipe, and simply baked the whole thing at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.
The result was a little liquid-y, as the zucchini gave off a bit of water while cooking (note to self: next time, cook the zucchini first), and the sauce was somewhat thin, but with a little straining, it was delicious. the leftovers were even more delicious the next day.
I am sure the zucchini would be delicious with just about any pasta topping: cacio e pepe (trying that one next), arrabiata sauce, or under a nice piece of eggplant parm. I’ll keep you posted, and once I perfect a recipe, I will post it here. Until then, I will keep experimenting with how to make healthy vegetables look like, and remind me of, pasta.
Please share your favorite spiralized veggie dish in the comments below. I need some inspiration for the next round of experimentation.
