I recently got a new kitchen gadget that makes zucchini noodles! I have a spiralizer that doesn’t work very well, and have been meaning to get a more expensive one that hopefully will work. In the mean time, I got this awesome Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler, 
As you can see, I put a ton of pesto on my zucchini. I love pesto, and I don’t love the taste of raw zucchini, so I thought, what the hell, and put all the pesto I made into the “noodles”. I’ve been known to eat pesto outside my fridge with a spoon, you know, like normal people do with ice cream. So I figured why not? It’s healthy, and I haven’t had Italian for awhile, so I’m going to eat every last bit…immediately. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I did.
- 2 zucchinis made into noodles
- 1 cup of raw pine nuts
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- juice from 1 lemon
- 3 cups of fresh basil
- Make zucchini noodles with julienne peeler. Hold down zucchini with a fork for safety.
- In food processor, combine, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh basil and lemon juice.
- Blend until smooth, then toss with zucchini and plate dish.
This looks wonderful and just what I was looking for! My question is: do you cook the zucchini?
Thank you. For this recipe I didn’t, but lately I have been. Just saute it for a couple minutes usually 2-3 minutes to get the zucchini a little softer. Beware the zucchini releases water when it get’s cooked.
This pesto sauce is excellent! Is there a way to make it without the pine nuts? Without adding in parmesan or any dairy…; (
Thank you! Cashews are nice creamy, especially when they are soaked for up to 8 hours. Macadamia nuts might work too. The flavor might be slightly different, but I’d love to know how those substitutions turn out.
I even used Walnuts (with skin) and less oil and it still turned out totally pesto-like. It was just a little less fine because I used a non-electric blender! So feel free to use any nut you like!
Try it with proper Italian pesto (I mean as we make it here in Italy) : olive oil, garlic, basil, salt to taste, pine nuts (or walnuts), 2 parts parmigiano (parmesan) to 1 part pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese: I find it better to use a fairly young cheese, because it makes it creamier and because the more mature version is harder and saltier).
I also keep a few pine nuts or chopped walnut aside and then add them after.
And it’s better if the courgettes/zucchini are very slightly cooked and hot: just put them in boling water for a minute or so .