Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

For months, I’ve been seeing all these recipes that call for “spiralized” vegetables, and I finally decided to try my hand at producing “pseudo pasta.” First, I researched to find a quality hand-driven veggie spiralizer.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

I’m not a fan of piles of electric appliances in the kitchen – I have very little counter space or cabinet room, and I prefer less noise, and more exercise from doing tasks by hand, so I chose the OXO Good Grips 3-Blade Hand-Held Spiralizer from Amazon based on good reviews for dependability and ease-of-use and cleaning.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

Next, I looked up recipes for making vegetable spirals, and found plenty. I scanned several, picked out the best advice from each, and set to work on mine. With three zucchini and three squash at the ready, I chopped off the top and bottom of one of each and tossed the ends into the compost/chicken bucket. My chickens love all the kitchen scraps, so I save any leftovers or food waste to feed to them.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

Then I had to choose a blade, and attached it to the base. There are three included with the Oxo device. One produces 1/8 inch “spaghetti cut,” another 1/4″ “fettuccine cut,” and the third “ribbon cut.” I selected the “spaghetti cut,” and started twisting my vegetable. It worked! It worked! Perfect spirals! I spiraled one squash, one zucchini, even tried using the grippy food holder to twist the last bit of the stub close to the blade. I filled a pretty chicken wire bowl, handmade by Colette Clark, full of very pretty spirals.  I was not sure what to do with the core that holds the vegetable in place on the blade; I ended up slicing all the cores into thin strings and using them too.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

Next was the drying bit – squash and zucchini hold a lot of moisture, so I spread out the spirals on paper towels. Briefly, I considered if linen napkins would work just as well except create less waste. Although I’m hard pressed to go through a roll of paper towels in six months, preferring recyclables, I pressed forward, recklessly ripping off eight paper towels; two for on top, two for on the bottom, for two wicking stations. I sprinkled ground sea salt over both stations of veggies to encourage more moisture removal.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

After ten minutes, I patted the vegetables dryer, put a teaspoon of olive oil in a large pan, set the stovetop to medium, and proceeded to stir-fry the spirals. They browned quite nicely. At the same time, I put two packets of previously frozen mussles in garlic butter on another burner and let them steam, while two slices of Cuban bread went into the toaster.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

In all, I had less than 30 minutes invested in producing a colorful, fairly healthy meal. Now, I can’t wait to “spiralize” other food – apples to make apple chips, maybe some potatoes, or even better – sweet potatoes! The pictures of spiraled cucumber and carrots look attractive; I’m thinking I can produce some nifty salad toppings.

spiralized vege, Spiralized Zucchnini Squash Pseudo Pasta

Pictured:

Chicken wire bowl by Colette Clark – artist at The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts Highlands, NC

Publix Premium Mussels, Garlic Butter Frozen, 16 oz.

 

 

 

 

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