Pesto Zucchini Zoodles

Eating healthy.  Why can’t we eat cookies and bread all day and still fit in our clothes?

At Mark’s last physical, the doctor told him to reduce his overall carbohydrate intake.  There isn’t a concern for his blood sugar but in general we Americans eat far too many carbs.  I know this but, insert whine here, carbs are just so darn tasty.

A friend of ours had a little issue with his sugar.  They joined us on a camping trip in San Diego for one of Mark’s triathlons.  Our traditional meal the night before a race is a big plate of spaghetti.  His lovely wife brought zucchini for him as his noodles.  Ingenious.  She said the trick is not to cook them too much; if they get too soft they become mush and are gross.  Duly noted. She was my first call when Mark said he was open to trying spaghetti like Shawn eats it.  Now, inside I was jumping for joy.  Mark’s food repertoire is not huge.  It’s not even large, although he does eat many things now that he wouldn’t even consider eating when we were 18.  The man wouldn’t even touch a salad back then and now, at 51 he was willingly going to eat zoodles!  Small victories I tell ya.

She cautioned me on a good spiralizer.  For someone as picky as Mark, the zoodles needed to look more like noodles than just thinly knife-sliced zucchini.  After a few failed products, she recommended Veggetti Pro at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $20.  Perfect for me as I had a $5 coupon.  I then scoured my favorite recipe box, Pinterest, for tips on cooking the zoodles.  I decided to saute’ them for 4-5 minutes so they still had a little crunch.  I figured the hot spaghetti sauce wouldn’t be so hot to turn them to mush, they would hold their structure and have a more noodle like consistency.  I am happy to report they passed the test of Mark’s taste buds and we’ve made them several more times.

I figured I would seize the opportunity of his newfound zoodle love and find more recipes when I came across this one from Cooking Canuck.  She even started off the recipe blog stating they eat this dish as their first night camping dish on each and every camping trip.  She is my kind of girl!

I did have to modify it a bit.  Spiraled zucchini Mark will do but he said no way to yellow squash.  Baby steps.  Maybe I can sneak them in the next time.  I used three good sized zucchini instead.  I’ve learned to pick the straightest zucchini for the spiralizer.  The curved ones don’t get cut as neatly as the straight ones.

I really like how fast this dish was.  I cut the sausage down the middle then cut slices before tossing it in a large skillet and cooked them until they were nicely browned.  Then I dumped all the zoodles in along with some salt, pepper and the pesto sauce.  It literally took 10 minutes tops; perfect for a weeknight meal at home or in the RV after a long day of exploring.  An added bonus is the minimal amount of dishes to clean up.  When you’re in the RV, the campfire is begging you to come sit and enjoy the evening.  Your night should not be spent cleaning a bunch of dishes while everyone else enjoys the fire.

I am happy to report this meal passed with flying colors and has been added to the “make again” list.  Next time we are going to try a spicier chicken sausage.  I think this would also be delicious with sliced grilled chicken breast and a little Alfredo sauce.  With a slice of garlic bread of course.  A girl needs her carbs.

Print Recipe

Pesto Zucchini Noodles

Recipe Credit: Cooking Canuck

• 2 medium zucchini (4 cups noodles)
• 1 large yellow squash (3 cups noodles)
• 4 pre-cooked chicken sausages, sliced into half-circles
• 5 tbsp basil pesto
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper

1. Cut the ends off of the zucchini and yellow squash.  Run the zucchini and squash through the skinniest blade on the spiralizer to produce noodles. Place them in a large serving bowl.
2. Preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and heated through.
3. Add the zoodles, pesto, salt and pepper to the skillet with the sausage and toss to coat. Toss around a few minutes until zoodles are cooked, yet still firm.  ENJOY!