bruschetta inspired zucchini noodles

Zucchini noodles or spaghetti is a great gluten-free alternative to regular pasta and is much cheaper than buying special gluten-free products, especially if you have zucchini growing in the garden at the moment.

Zucchini noodles are tasty and packed full of nutrients and are simple to make.

So what are zucchini noodles?

Simply zucchini cut into long, thin spaghetti strips.

You cut your zucchini strips using a vegetable peeler for thin strips and then use a knife for the spaghetti, or you can get a julienne peeler very cheaply – I go this one for Christmas from Target, which makes the task quick and easy.

This dish makes for a great lunch or light Summer dinner.

If you like your zucchini raw, then there’s no need to cook this dish at all, simply toss the lot in a little olive oil and enjoy as a salad. Quick and easy.

I’m not very partial to raw zucchini, so I give this a light sauté in a little olive oil. Even cooked, this dish only takes a minute or two.

Serves 1

Method

1. If you’re eating this raw, toss all the ingredients together (except the parmesan). Top with parmesan and serve.
2. If you’re cooking your noodles, heat a little olive oil in a fry pan over medium high heat and toss the zucchini noodles in the pan for a minute or two until cooked to your liking.
3. Remove from the heat and turn the heat down. Add the garlic and cook for about 10 seconds to take the rawness off – you don’t want to burn it. Add the diced tomato, the cooked zucchini and basil and toss together for another few seconds before serving. Top with parmesan.

 

Of course, many of the dishes you make with pasta can easily be made with zucchini noodles instead. About the only thing that grew well this year in our garden was basil (it would seem plants do a lot better when you water them), so I whipped up a batch fresh pesto and stirred this through some cooked zucchini noodles – so fresh and absolutely delicious!

Have you read these posts?

1. chicken meatballs with noodles and satay sauce
2. Zucchini Bread
3. moroccan inspired lamb mince pilaf
4. honey roasted pumpkin risotto
5. how to freeze zucchini–a step by step tutorial