Bacon-Basil Zucchini “Pasta”

The Paleo Mom is a scientist turned stay-at-home mom who is taking on the monumental task of improving her family’s nutrition and health. She is attempting to ease her skeptic husband and two young spirited daughters into a paleolithic lifestyle, one small change and one good recipe at a time.

I miss pasta….a lot.   This is definitely on the try it list!  df

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Recipe: Bacon-Basil Zucchini “Pasta”

I bought myself a relatively inexpensive Mandoline Slicer and I love it!  It makes so many jobs in the kitchen so much faster.  There are some jobs that would take so long with a knife that I just never even bother.  Making paleo “noodles” out of vegetables is one such job.  If you’re looking for a mandolin, make sure you get one that can do a fine julienne.  A ton of different vegetables can be julienned into long strips and steamed, braised or sautéed as mock noodles.  And my kids LOVE them (there’s something so satisfying about a long skinny slurpy noodle, especially if it is a carrot noodle, a turnip noodles, or a broccoli stem noodle).  This recipe features zucchini as a mock noodle, which has such a lovely flavor for Italian-inspired dishes.  This recipe makes enough for 3-4 hearty side dish portions.  Alternately, you could add some grilled steak, prawns or chicken and turn this into a main dish for two.  If you don’t have an oversized frying pan (which is another kitchen must-have!), you could try using a Wok.

Ingredients:

4 large zucchini (about 2 pounds)

2 tsp Salt (to salt the zucchini)

1/3 cup bacon grease (crispy bits make it even better)

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

½ cup chopped Walnuts (optional)

1.    Finely julienne zucchini lengthwise to create long strips of zucchini.  Toss with salt in a colander and let sit in the sink for 1 hour.

2.    Rinse the zucchini very, very thoroughly (have a taste to make sure it’s not salty at all).  Drain on a tea towel or paper towels to get rid of as much moisture as possible.

3.    Heat bacon grease in an oversized frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and zucchini and sauté, stirring frequently until zucchini is  cooked “al dente”, about 4-5 minutes (should be a very hot pan).

4.    Toss in basil and walnuts (if using) and cook another 2 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

5.    Serve!