Zucchetti ‘Pasta’ With Tomato Sauce And Pesto

If you’re looking for an easy peasy, super healthy, and extremely delicious meal that is ready in 40 minutes, here it is! It is of course vegan, also gluten free and, on top of that, paleo friendly. You can call it zucchini pasta or zoodles, but since they remind me so much of a nutritious, very light version of our beloved spaghetti I will just name them zucchetti. I know for sure that this recipe is a keeper in my kitchen and will be served with different kinds of sauces in many different ways because that’s what you do with pasta, right?

Ingredients:

For pesto:

• 1/2 cup (70 g) pine nuts (plus more for topping)
• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves (1.8 oz/50 g)
• 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

For tomato sauce (requires a high speed blender):

• 1 recipe ‘Thick And Creamy Tomato Sauce’ (prepared in 10 minutes, but remember to soak cashews!)

For zucchetti (2 servings):

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 medium size zucchini, ends removed (mine were 2 lb/900 g)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt

Toppings:

• fresh herbs like basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano
• more pan fried pine nuts
• vegan Parmesan (for homemade cashew Parmesan see notes)

Preparation:

For the pesto, preheat a frying pan on medium heat, then pan fry the pine nuts for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Stir continuously!!!

Place all the pesto ingredients, including roasted pine nuts, in a food processor and process until the desired texture is achieved. The perfect pesto still has some texture and is not completely smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can easily use the chopping bowl attachment of your hand mixer. That’s what I did.

Follow link to prepare your thick and creamy tomato sauce.

Use a spiralizer or a julienne peeler to make zucchetti. I prefer a spiralizer because it creates the nice, long locks that you can twist around your fork to eat them Italian style.

Preheat a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add olive oil, then spiralized zucchini and garlic. Cook for about 4 minutes while stirring frequently. Add the very end of the cooking time stir in Celtic sea salt. If you want to double the zucchetti recipe, just work in two batches.

Don’t dump the liquid that accumulated on the bottom of the pan. It tastes so good. I just poured it into a cup and drank it like broth. Delicious!

Serve zucchetti hot with sauce, pesto, lots of fresh herbs, and some vegan Parmesan. Enjoy!

Notes:

• Sauce and pesto are optional. You could also serve zucchetti with roasted cherry tomatoes, a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt, some olive oil, and of course lots of fresh herbs.
• Any pasta sauce will actually work. Just pick your favorite!
• You can easily make your own cashew Parmesan by pulsing the following ingredients in your food processor or blender until a crumbled, Parmesan-like texture is achieved.
  • 1 cup (140 g) raw, unsalted cashews
  • 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
  • 4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• You can serve zucchetti just with a drizzle of olive oil and herbs. So light and delicious!