Zucchini Noodles or Zoodles are simply amazing!! They look cool, they taste great and they cook in minutes. This is a fun way to incorporate more veggies in your diet, and they are a more healthy and colorful alternative to pasta.

You need to buy a spiralizer or a spiralizer tool to make your zoodles. You need one large zucchini per person, garlic and olive oil.

I purchased my spiralizer at Williams Sonoma for $ 49.00. It comes with 4 blades for different diameters of spirals. It's pretty straight forward and easy to use. I used the medium blade for my zoodles. I thought I was buying a white one...should have looked inside the box before I purchased it!!

The spiralizer has a long pin, top left, that you insert in your vegetable to hold it in place. You simply crank the handle for instant noodles. I used the hand tool for years, and bought a spiralizer this year. It is really amazing the way it can transform vegetables into works of art. You can also use the spiralizer for cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, etc.. Spiralizing gives vegetables a different texture and feel, which makes vegetables appealing to your eyes as well as your palate.

Williams Sonoma also sells a tool that creates strips, however they are thinner and will take even less time to cook. If you are using this tool start with a swipe down longways, then flip over zucchini so the new flat surface is easier to stay steady and secure. Once you start feeling and seeing the seeds in the middle of the zucchini, stop and turn the zucchini. You will be left with a small seedy middle section which you can discard. When you use the machine you use the entire zucchini, if you use the tool the middle section becomes too mushy when cooked.

This is a closeup of the blade on the shredding tool.

This is how the noodles look when you use the machine. They are so cool. Once you heat up your pan, you will throw in your olive oil, garlic and zucchini. It will take only 1 - 2 minutes to cook the noodles. Constantly stir them during this time. Then remove them and let your paper towels absorb the extra moisture. They will not be fully cooked, and that is OK...actually good for you. If you fully cook them they will become limp and soggy and too liquidy.

ZUCCHINI NOODLES RECIPE

Serves 4 people

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 3 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 large zucchini or 8 small ones
1 clove of garlic, minced finely
1 tablespoon olive oil

PREPARATION

Cut the ends off your zucchini and spiralize your zucchini.
Heat up a medium size skillet on high heat.
While it is heating up, stack up 8 paper towels, and set aside.
As soon as the pan is hot, add your oil, garlic and zucchini.
Stir constantly and quickly and cook 1 to 2 minutes. (If you cook the zucchini too long it will become squishy and full of liquid, you want to cook them al dente, a little firm to the bite)
Empty the noodles onto the paper towels. Gather up the paper towels and squeeze the moisture into the paper towel.
Place in your serving bowls and top with chicken meatballs or a topping of your choice.
Serve immediately, as the noodles sit they will continue to release liquid.

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Zucchini and tomato gratin is one of my favorite go to side dishes when we have company. Its presentation is impressive, it goes with anything (fish, chicken or beef), it can be assembled ahead of time, and you can pop it in the oven while your having a cocktail. And since Christmas is next week, I thought something red and green would be quite festive!

You need to buy roma tomatoes. Their elongated shape and slender diameter are best for a nice presentation. Try to also find medium zucchini, if they are too skinny they will not be in proportion to the tomatoes. If you can not find fresh thyme than just buy dried thyme.

Make sure to cut the zucchini on a diagonal. First cut off the end and discard.

You will notice that each opposite end of the zucchini slice will have a larger section of peeling showing because of the diagonal cut, like a green top hat. Make sure put the top hat facing up when you layer your gratin. It will make for a more colorful presentation.

You do not need to cut the tomatoes on a diagonal. Just cut off the ends and slice them a little thicker than the zucchini, since they will cook faster. You will get 3 or 4 slices from each roma tomato. Do not try to use the slices close to the end since they will be small in diameter and will not look good in scale with the zucchini. This really is a easy dish, I am making it sound complicated, but in reality I want to explain the importance of the proportion and scale to the outcome of the presentation. I am a designer, so scale and proportion mean more to me than most people. I know I am not normal !

I use a pastry brush to apply the olive oil and garlic on the exposed vegetables. (If you do not have a pastry brush I encourage you to buy one. It will make your life so much easier for so many things including spreading sauce on homemade pizza, spreading olive oil on flat bread, making puff pastry pinwheels, glazing chicken with barbecue sauce, and greasing grill pans)

If you purchase fresh thyme the best way to remove the leaves is to hold on to the top of the stem with one hand and use your other hand to slide down the stem. The leaves will fall off as you squeeze your fingers together and slide down.

I use a vegetable peeler to create parmesan slivers. I like how they melt in spots in different parts of the gratin. The gratin is not covered in cheese, just a few dabs here and there. The cheese adds a nice sharp bite, but not with a lot of heaviness.

Crumble up the parmesan strips you have created with the peeler into little chards. Of course you could simply grate the parmesan, but the parmesan shavings will be so small they will not be as impressive as the larger irregular ones!

Sprinkle on salt and pepper, than half of the thyme, and finally the parmesan shavings. Now grab a glass of wine and relax.

ZUCCHINI AND TOMATO GRATIN RECIPE

Serves 4 as a side dish

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 or 5 zucchini (about 1 3/4 pounds)
7 roma tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of fresh thyme ( or use 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
1/3 cup parmesan shavings
salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375.
Pull out a ovenproof rectangular dish (I use a 8" x 11 1/2", or 8 1/2" x 13").
Slice the zucchini on a diagonal about 1/4" thick.
Slice the tomatoes a little thicker than the zucchini since they will cook faster.
Combine the olive oil and minced garlic
Layer the zucchini and tomatoes. Begin with the zucchini. Since you cut the zucchini on a diagonal, the zucchini will have one side on each end that shows more of the green peeling. Make sure you have the green ends facing up . End with a row of tomatoes.
With a pastry brush or a spoon drizzle the garlic and olive oil mixture on all the exposed vegetables.
Sprinkle with salt and a generous amount of pepper.
Remove the leaves of the thyme from the stems. Sprinkle half on the vegetables. Save the remaining thyme to sprinkle on after cooking.
Sprinkle the parmesan on the gratin.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until zucchini is tender with a fork.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle on remaining thyme.

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