Low Carb Zucchini Spaghetti Noodles "Zoodles" (raw, paleo, vegan, gf)
By JULIE - 10:01:00 PM
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In the fall I often had spaghetti squash in place of pasta. I loved spaghetti squash, but now that it's summer zucchini seemed like a much easier and cheaper alternative now that it's out of season. I decided not to grow zucchini after our horrible infestation last year in our garden growing squash and zucchini and discovering that our local farmers market has huge zuchinni for $1 or less as early as the start of July to mid July through fall.
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| my first time using my spiralizer is a success! |
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| a julienne peeler is an easy inexpensive option image from Almonds and Avocados |
How To Make Zuchinni Spaghetti Noodles
1. Cut the ends off of your zucchini and peel your zuchinni with a vegetable peeler.
2. If your zucchini is large cut it it into pieces that are 6" or shorter.
cut with a julienne peeler or a spiralizer following instructions of the manufacture. The picture below shows how much noodles you can get from a 6" zucchini.
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| I cut a large zuchinni in half pictured is how much noodles I got from about 6" of zuchinni |
If you want to watch a video demonstrating how to use a spiralizer check out the one below.
Demo of making zucchini noodles with a spiralizer (about 3 min)
4. after you have you zucchini noodles you can eat them raw or cook them lightly in a sauté pan or microwave. I would however suggest trying some raw first because I have learned after making this for a few months now that the zucchini tend to slowly disintegrate into your sauce as you eat. Meaning cooking would only speed up this process and take more time effort and create more dishes to wash. My guess is either the heat from the sauce is cooking it or the salt in the sauce is squeezing out the liquid. I like to use a smaller amount of sauce than usual and use a marinera sauce that has had some of the liquid cooked out of it (or in other words let it simmer for a couple hours), since the zucchini will release liquid into it. I also make sure I set aside "zoodles" to add to it later.
If you do decide to cook it, just be careful if you cook it that you barely cook it because you don't want mushy noodles. Just remember that noodles are all about the texture. They don't bring taste to the meal, they bring texture. I would stop cooking it as soon as it starts to release liquid. I believe it might be better to just not cook it at all. I cooked ours lightly in a sauté pan. My first batch was a bit to cooked and released a lot of water in my bowl. I cooked my husbands just barely and he said his were good, just too long of noodles (next time I will start with a shorter zucchini. They barely released any liquid. The next time I plan to test it raw.
5. If cooking drain any liquid released from the noodles.
6. To serve add your favourite organic marinera sauce (I like Bertollis Olive oil and garlic), or pesto. If you want meat balls check out my Italian Omega 3 recipe.
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