I was practically raised on pasta and I used to be a big fan. I was born in Italy where we had it almost every other day. Throughout the years I came to realise that pasta does not work well with my body. Particularly I am not a fan of how I feel: bloated and never really satisfied, so I end up eating much more than I would with a healthier version like this one. Also, pasta is not a very nutrient dense meal. It’s a highly refined wheat product that mainly spikes up our sugar levels. That’s why many of us feel tired after eating it. So, I am not saying never eat pasta again but try swapping it every once in a while for a healthier version.
This is more of a pasta/salad – you get the texture of the pasta and the shape. The zucchini noodles are very easy to prepare and completely raw vegan. To get the noodles shape you simply cut the zucchini through a spiralizer. In case you don’t have one, no problem. You can achieve the same by cutting the zucchini with a vegetable peeler and slicing them sideways. You sort of get a large fettucini.
Recipe – makes one serving
- 1 large zucchini (use a spiralizer to cut it if you don’t have one use a vegetable peeler)
- 5-6 chopped sun dried tomatoes (soak in water for 10 min)
- cherry tomatoes
- 1/3 of a cup of cashews
Vegan pesto – makes 4-5 servings
- 2-3 cups of fresh basil
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- 1/2 cup of pine nuts
- 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast (this is what gives it that cheesy flavour)
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1 glove of garlic *optional
To make the pesto combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender. Add about 2-3 tbsp to the zucchini noodles and mix all together. Top with the cherry tomatoes, cashews, and sundries tomatoes. Store the rest of the pesto, you will be able to use this in the future for dressing on your salads or a wrap. I have been adding it to my kale salads.
Some people cook the zucchini but personally you don’t need to. They marinate a bit in the pesto sauce and will soften up very quickly. Easy recipe to make any day. You can also try the zucchini noodles with different sauces there are so many different options. Enjoy <3
