This past weekend one of my best friends, Carolyn, married the love of her life and it couldn’t have been a more perfect event!  My heart is full after a weekend dedicated to their partnership – past, present, and future. This picture embodies how much fun we had throughout the whole weekend (that’s me on the right).

Because of the wedding our friend Erin extended her vacation and I was lucky enough to get her all to myself for an ENTIRE day! Our day started with a long walk the edge of town with the dog, then we took a mid-day yoga class followed up with a visit to our favorite local bakery where we bought lunch and treats.  Then, in the afternoon we got our nails done and ran through final wedding prep checklists.

Mid way through our morning we said to one another “we should make something fun for dinner!” To Erin this meant heading to the local farmers market and gathering as many seasonal veggies as possible to cook up together in a magical melange.  To me, I was up for anything as long as it was “something beautiful.” After lots of meandering brainstorming Erin finally exclaimed “Zoodles!” Neither of us had ever spiralized before or made our own veggie noodles – and so the experiment began. 

The local hardware store had two different spiralizer tools, one that was more of a hand-held doodad and another that you could stick onto the counter with a handle.  We splurged on the fancy one and both jumped joy as we walked to the car with our new extravagant new toy. We then popped over to the farmers market where Erin grabbed some tomatoes and some delicious farmers cheese which we new we’d combine with some mushrooms and peppers we had at home.

The process of using a spiralizer is actually quite easy.  First you pick the proper blade (similar to a food processor) and then you snap together the holder and handle.  The ends of the veggie need to be evenly cut and then it is positioned inside of the spiralizer. With one twist of the handle zoodles quickly come out and you are on your way! [Note: You may need to cut the noodles because they essentially came out as one long noodle – pictured above. Ha!] We patted the noodles with a paper towel and let them sit while the sauce came together. Then, the noodles went in for two minutes and we enjoyed a veggie feast!  

I can’t wait to continue to use this tool – send me your tips! Also, bringing this dish over to the Fiesta Friday partay hosted this week by Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Diann @ Of Goats and Greens.

Zoodle Primavera

• Servings: 2-3
• Time: 10 prep + 20 cook = 30 mins
• Print

This zoodle primavera dish is packed with fresh seasonal veggies and covered in a cheesy white wine sauce. I promise you won't miss the pasta for a second!

 

Ingredients

• One medium zucchini
• 1/3 cup of onions – sliced into long strips
• 1 cup of small sweet peppers – quartered
• 1.5 cups of sliced mushrooms
• 1 carton of fresh cherry tomatoes
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons of butter
• Apx 1/2 cup of white wine
• Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper flakes
• Fresh basil (about 20 leaves)
• optional cheese for serving (Parmesan or farmers cheese)

Steps & Notes

1. Remove the ends of the zucchini creating the flattest ends possible. (We chose to leave the skin on for vitamins and some extra color!)
2. Saute the onions in some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once they begin to soften add the mushrooms. Add the butter
3. Resist the urge to constantly mix (my kryptonite) and just let the beautiful veggies cook.
4. After about 5 minutes add the peppers, then add some white wine and crushed red pepper
5. Cut the tomatoes in half and place face down. Again, don’t stir for 8-9 minutes.
6. Halfway through cooking add half of the basil leaves, mix once and then continue to let cook
7. Once the sauce has cooked add the zoodles and warm them for 3-4 minutes. This is a quick process and you’ll want to taste them.
8. Top with cheese if you’d like and serve warm

Possible Modifications

• Add a range of other veggies from spinach to broccoli to jalapenos or scallions
• Use a pesto sauce to coat the zoodles
• Make a meaty red sauce and meatballs