Zucchini Fettuccini

Not a noodle!

Side dishes are usually overlooked and kinda boring. No wonder they're overlooked.

This one is definitely not one of those.

There are some days when boiling a huge pot of water just seems like too much trouble. Especially in the summer when it's warm outside and adding humidity to the house is the last thing you want to do. It's not quite that warm here yet, but I've been craving zucchini, and this is a fun way to eat it. I'll bet even kids would be willing to try them this way!

Zucchini Fettuccini

(this serves one, multiply as needed!)

• 1 zucchini
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 clove garlic

Using a vegetable peeler, or a mandolin (if you have one) peel thin strips off the zucchini.

Keep going with the peeler. Don't worry if the strips are even in width, or if they break a bit.

The middle, where all the seeds are, won't work well, so don't worry about it. Just keep turning and peeling the zuke until you've turned as much of it into ribbons as possible.

Heat a large pan over high heat. The goal here is to really sautee these things. You don't want them to steam at all. Zucchini has a very high moisture content, and we want to trap that moisture inside the "fettuccini."

Chop the garlic. Get the butter sizzling, then drop in the garlic. It and the butter will start to brown pretty fast. As soon as you see that golden edge, drop in your zucchini.

Keep the fettuccini moving around and DON'T add salt. Salt will draw that moisture out, and we want it trapped. It takes about 3 minutes for the zucchini to cook.

Topped with a bit of grated parm, or a tiny sprinkle of lemon zest..

These not-a-noodles, make a perfect side dish

Hm. What should I put on the other half of the plate...

How about chicken picatta?

I'll bet the zucchini fettuccini would be great next to Taneasha's little turkey meatloafs too!

What would you put on the other side of the plate?

Spinach Pesto

I should have timed myself because I know this took less than 20 minutes to make.

Last night's dinner was a horrible fail. How bad was it? I wouldn't even post it as a fail, that's how bad. I've had quite a few fails lately and I really needed to do something to redeem myself. Pretty sure this did it.

Colourful, fresh, fast. Perfect spring dinner.

Spinach Pesto

• 3-4 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 c grated parmesan, asiago, or romano cheese
• 2-3 tbsp nuts, I used cashews because I had them
• 1 large garlic clove
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt
• olive oil

Dinner was tasty, but I still didn't get all the ingredients in the picture though.

No oven to preheat this time. But getting the water boiling now helps. Grating the cheese too.

Dump the spinach leaves into the food processor.

Sprinkle on the cheese, nuts, garlic, lemon zest, and salt.

Squeeze in the juice.

A few pulses will get it looking like this.

This recipe makes enough for 4-6 servings of pasta, but if you want to make a double batch, just add another set of everything to the bowl, and do it all over again.

Scrape down the sides and this time, when you turn it on, pour in a tablespoon or two of olive oil, until it just turns pasty. 

At this point, you can use it as a pasta sauce, an ingredient in a dip, a sandwich spread, or even in soup.

A bit more oil will make it very saucy, but it will store and freeze just as well as it is now.

Besides, a bit of cream will make it saucy too.

You can make pesto with anything leafy and green. Spinach is very brightly coloured, but mildly flavoured. Even kids should eat this. But if they don't want to, add some prosciutto , tell them it's green noodles and ham and they don't get to say they don't like it until they try it. SamIAm.

Okay, there we go. I made dinner. I really can cook.