I love pasta but when it's 210 calories for 2 ounces and let's face it, 4 ounces is the typical serving, 420 calories for pasta alone doesn't always fit into the calorie bank. I'm not one of those people who can do spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles only and be like "voila...pasta!"
Uh no...it's faux pasta that is limp and my mouth knows the difference.
But I decided to try a half pasta, half zucchini hybrid and that we can do and only have about 220 calories invested in noodles. I was using my mandoline on the julienne setting but when it got down to the thinner part, I always wondered how long it would be until I took a finger with it. Well, it happened. I got my thumb and it went a wee deep for my liking. I figured giving a Spiralizer
(affiliate link) a shot wouldn't be a bad idea if it meant keeping my digits in tact especially at under $20.
(affiliate link) a shot wouldn't be a bad idea if it meant keeping my digits in tact especially at under $20.
Here's what it looks like.
I washed and cut the ends off of my zucchini.
Then I stuck it in the top of the zucchini, held the metal sides and started twisting from the top. There is a thicker setting...
...and a slightly thinner one.
It takes a little getting used to your first time and when the noodles got long enough, I'd cut them with my kitchen shears. The only gripe I had was the seeded pulp plug leftover.
But OF COURSE after I bought it, they now include a bristle brush to pop it out. I had to use a small knife. The link
I have to it includes the brush. (affiliate link) The top is for when you get to the top of the veggie and can't really turn it with your hands any more. It gets an extra twist or two out of a zucchini but I assume it works better on something a little harder.
When you're done, you have this little nubbin left so I just cut off the point and cut up the rest for the Mr's salads.
This is three regular zucchinis worth of noodles.
My verdict: The Spiralizer (affiliate link) does just fine if noodles are your goal. I am a little disappointed at how long it took compared to my mandoline but if it keeps me from making my finger into a mangled mess, I'll do the prep early! I suspect I'll speed up with practice. Mixing one serving of whole wheat pasta with 1 to 1 1/2 zucchini's worth of noodles gives that pasta taste but bulked up with veggies!
(affiliate link) does just fine if noodles are your goal. I am a little disappointed at how long it took compared to my mandoline but if it keeps me from making my finger into a mangled mess, I'll do the prep early! I suspect I'll speed up with practice. Mixing one serving of whole wheat pasta with 1 to 1 1/2 zucchini's worth of noodles gives that pasta taste but bulked up with veggies!
I will say that zucchini noodles are very water dense so if you don't want watery sauce, drain them for about 10-15 minutes in cheesecloth or paper towels before adding them to the spaghetti noodles and cook them a little longer.
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I'm glad this is saving your fingers. You just might need those. I also like the pasta like this but, definitely don't think I could do nothing but zucchini noodles for spaghetti so stick with the hybrid!
ReplyDeleteYeah I might need 'em. ;-) No I couldn't do all zucchini, it's not the same no matter how much people try to say it is.
DeleteSo do you cook the zucchini? I am intrigued by these spiralizers and I see it's on sale at your link, and very reasonable. I too, am not a fan of spaghetti squash. I just can't get past the texture of it. And I do love me some pasta. I have scraped the top of my finger in my mandoline as well, and it was very painful, so I am most careful now. Not gonna do that again!
ReplyDeleteI throw the zucchini in with the pasta the last 3 minutes of cooking, drain it WELL and try to cook off a little water before getting into the sauce. The zucchini can hold a lot of water so trying to cook off as much water as possible will save you from runny sauce pooling on the plate. (I'm still trying to master it to my liking)
DeleteMandolines can be the devil's kitchen tool.
I have this spiralizer too and I really like it. It gets the job done and its easy to clean. Its also super easy to store which is a huge plus--I don't need another kitchen gadget sitting on my counter. I had the same thought as you did about the zucchini noodles--soggy, different--but when I made them I really like them!! I was surprised. Not better than noodles certainly but they were good. So many recipes out there now and a cookbook. Good stuff and, yes, less calories.
ReplyDeleteGood, I'm glad you like it! It does clean pretty easy after you get the seed plug out and I'm glad it's dishwasher safe too. (Top rack) I'm going to try sweet potatoes too, they say you can use this on the long, skinny ones.
DeleteI like spaghetti squash, but not as spaghetti. I like it mixed with some mixed veggies and a little Italian dressing, if it's not pretending to be spaghetti it's fine, but I'm with you that nothing else is quite pasta.
ReplyDeleteI've seen these spiralizer things on the gadget shelves and been intrigued, but I don't know that I'd get much use out of it.
Yeah nothing else has that "mouth feel" of pasta but pasta. I wouldn't have gotten much use out of this either but we kind of kicked spaghetti out of our lives and now we can easily add it back in with this hybrid. The Mr is beyond thrilled! :-)
DeleteI couldn't eat veggie pasta (I've just got eating issues), but had my eye on this as a possibility for Hubs. I wonder if my Mr would like it ...
ReplyDeleteOne way to find out. ;-) You can use it for a lot of different veggies so I've heard. I might do sweet potatos next like maybe for a potato cake or something.
Delete