Wednesday's Workout: Spiralizing Away- A Zucchini-Starch Combo

So I have witnessed everywhere online (especially around summertime) an absolute craze with spiralizing zucchinis and other vegetables into pasta dishes. I must say, as much as the concept sounds healthy and enticing, every single time I have prepared zucchini noodles (using different techniques such as spiralizers and mandolins with different blades), no matter how delicious they taste, they never seem to untangle enough to give me that Lady and the Tramp moment. So here is my alternative: spiralize just a much as you would for a main dish and, either sautée it with garlic, onions and other greens such as spinach and turn this into a side or, throw this freshly spiralized pasta, in more pasta. If you are one of these starch-hating people who believe that cutting out pasta and potatoes out of your life will change you (correct, it will make you grumpy and miserable), then you might not appreciate the concept of adding starch to this so-called starch replacement. But here we go! Also I chose very photogenic pasta, so hopefully that makes you accept my concept a tad more.

I chose to use,

Cherry Tomatoes (a handful, chopped)

Zucchini (1, spiralized)

Garlic (4 cloves, minced)

Pasta of your choice (1 pack)

Shallots (2, thinly sliced)

Parmesan (1/4 cup)

Olive oil (4 tbsp)

Parlsey (a handful, chopped)

Sea salt

Black pepper

Optional: anise, which you leave in the pan for 5 minutes and then discard

Another lovely option: I love using yellow zucchini as well!

A few steps,

1. Spiralize desired amount of zucchini, sprinkle with salt and press with a cloth to help drain excess water

2. In a pan over medium heat, toss garlic, shallots and olive oil with salt and pepper until the shallots have softened (5-7 minutes, while stirring regularly)

3. Add tomatoes, zucchini noodles and parsley, and stir for another 10 minutes or so (I like to lower the heat at this point and let the flavours get the know each other)

4. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, bring salt water to boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions- drain and throw into the pan while adding the Parmesan and mixing everything together

5. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve! The result is colourful and festive looking. Enjoy!

Note: Depending on the size of your spiralizer, you will most likely end up with parts that couldn't be spiralized. Keep those and chop them up: you can throw them into the pan and enjoy them just the same!