Turns out, the flavor is wonderful and it feels like playing to strip the zucchini down with my vegetable peeler to make the zucchini shavings. I really can't call it "pasta" again - that's just corny. Should we call it Zucchini Surprise, or does that bring up bad casserole memories? I was really surprised at the success of this method! Let's go with a cookbook editor name. . . .
Surprising Zucchini Salad
Serves 4
1-2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup snipped fresh mint
1/3 cup cooked, diced sausage or bacon or salami or something like that
1/4 cup shaved fresh Parmesan (I use the vegetable peeler again and keep them small)
1 big zucchini
salt
lots of freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
In a salad bowl, mix oil and vinegar to emulsify. Add some salt and pepper here - more pepper later. Toss in mint, sausage (I used kielbasa diced fine), and Parmesan. Use a vegetable peeler to shave off narrow strips of the zucchini (turn it frequently as you shave) until you get to the seeds. Discard the seedy part to the compost, the chickens, or the vulturish kids. Toss the salad immediately before serving, adding more black pepper, and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top. I'm sorry to say that leftovers get a little weepy and the hazelnuts will get soft.
Now that I know about zucchini shavings, I would like to experiment with other types of pasta-like salads since zucchini has such a neutral flavor. I've even seen cooks putting spaghetti sauce on zucchini "spaghetti."
12 comments:
Sounds good.. I will try it, since I have so many squash right now.. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Any time we have an unnamed conglomeration of what-not, Pat calls it (fill in the blank) Delight. So, Zucchini Delight.
Looks super tasty. I just found this recipe on Pinterest where you use butternut squash and create homemade mac and cheese ... it's on my list for the next week! I'm excited about having comfort food without all the gluten...
Yes, to zucchini "pasta" with spaghetti sauce! Or slice small zucchini in half lengthwise, put a good spoonful of pasta sauce along the cut sides and sprinkle with Parmesan. Microwave about 20 seconds each. They should still have a bit of crunch.
I do love zucchini when they are small and tender. Your recipe looks good, and is hilarious to read :)
Pasta takes only about 15 minutes to prepare so very fast and simple… and u make a lot of different recipes with pasta
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My friends at work are all ga-ga over this gadget right now.
http://www.buyveggetti.com/Default.asp?tcode=pi8&tag=googleBOGO&bhcp=1
This looks really delicious.
I always liked Real Simple: it stays pretty true to its name and doesn't overwhelm me. The recipes are usually doable and...simple!
I like this idea! I can imagine my children turning up their nose - but I think my husband would love it!
Gina
Gina, you could use the "pasta" concept with regular spaghetti sauce or some other salad combo that they would like. My kids think it's fun to make the strips.
Intriguing! Your recipe reminded me of this lasagna/casserole-type dish using zucchini instead of noodles: http://www.almostbananas.net/zucchini-pizza-frittata-courgette/
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I made this last night! My sweet friend MB was in town and I knew she'd appreciate it (last time she and her husband came for supper I made the kale salad that had wowed you at Thanksgiving--with the candied pecans? Delish). We loved it! I didn't have hazelnuts so I just used pecans. Mighty fine, and I'm tired of shredding and freezing zucchini to use in the winter--how much zucchini bread can one family actually eat?!!
Thank you!
Skinnytaste has a ton of recipes like this - subbing zucchini for pasta, etc. She calls them zoodles.
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