Now, zucchini pasta has been around for a while, and I may be a bit late on catching up with this trend, but I just couldn’t justify buying any of those fancy spiralizers everyone is raving about. Until some weeks ago, when I came to a realization that I had the perfect tool for faking a tagliatelle in my pantry. In other words, a good old potato peeler. The rest was a no-brainer.
So, these zucchini tagliatelle are a complete guilt-free treat best served with a glass of cooled white wine. Need I say more?
No-Carb Tagliatelle with Chili Pesto
Preparation time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 2-3 minutes | Serves: 2
Ingredients:
- 2-3 medium sized zucchini (courgette)
- a handful of cherry tomatoes for decoration
- pine nuts for decoration
For the pesto:
- a handful of fresh basil
- 20 gr pine nuts
- 1 garlic clove
- 2-3 table spoons olive oil
- a pinch of chili pepper
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- Put some water to boil in a big pot.
- With the help of a regular peeler, peel off the skin of the zucchini. Continue passing the peeler over the side of the zucchini lengthwise to produce tagliatelle-style stripes. When you approach the seeds, turn the zucchini and begin slicing another side. The seeds will prevent the tagliatelle from holding together, so you do not want to use the part with seeds in it. However, do not throw the seed part; instead slice them with a kitchen knife, sprinkle some olive oil and pepper, and put them on the grill pan.
- Once the water is boiling, throw in the zucchini tagliatelle in it for not more than 3 minutes. (Longer boiling times make the tagliatelle squashy.)
- Drain the zucchini tagliatelle, and put them into cold water. (This terminates the cooking process.)
- Place all of the pesto ingredients in a big bow and mix them with the help of a mixer. Start by adding just a bit of olive oil, and then add more if you feel that the pesto is not moist enough.
- Mix the zucchini pasta with the pesto. Slice the cherry tomatoes in halves, and garnish the plate. For extra decoration, sprinkle some pine nuts on top.
Bon appetit!
