I wish I could claim that I love zoodles. But they will never be noddles. I don’t feel like I’ve had an incredible pasta dish, or some crazy good pad Thai when I use spaghetti squash or zucchini in place of a good ole nood, but in an attempt to eat lunches that resemble less of an overweight Italian man, I give you pesto zoodles. Now, if you don’t want to make homemade pesto, use store bought. If you want to use a different noodle substitute, mazeltov. Don’t like goat cheese? Use Parmesan, IDGAF.
If you want to use this as a side, I suggest serving it as the side for Bolognese or Chicken Parmesan Meatballs.
For the homemade pesto…combine the following in your Vitamix/cuisinart. This will make a ton more than you need, so either freeze the rest, or use it in another recipe…
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 3/4 c. Olive oil
- 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/3 c. Toasted pine nuts (or toasted blanched almonds, toasted pecans, etc.)
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
For the zoodles, I sauted one package of Cece’s Veggie Co. Noodles-Zucchini Veggiccine. They have all sorts of different zoodle types and I’m 99% sure that if we have them in Midland, you have them at your grocery store. Just sauté with a splash of olive oil for 3 minutes until they are soft. Add in 2 tbs of the pesto and cook for another minute until well combined and top with crumbled goat cheese and crushed red pepper. One package serves one as a big vegetarian meal, or 2 as a side.
