With my upcoming wedding only three months away, I've been avoiding one temptation after the next in an attempt to look stellar on my wedding day. With so many Italian restaurants dotting South Florida, it's been tough to stay away from the ultimate temptation-pasta! I got the nifty idea to substitute pasta with different foods that can fake my palette into thinking I'm eating pasta after dining at a restaurant in downtown Miami called "Delores but you can call me Lolita". On their menu, they offered a "zucchini pasta" dish. Instead of spaghetti, they used zucchini. The dish was wonderful, and it inspired me to experiment in my own kitchen.
I have two simple variations of the same recipe, one featuring zucchini and one featuring spaghetti squash. Both were delicious, but I tend to favor the spaghetti squash version if spaghetti squash is in season.
I love to purchase a simple store brand of spaghetti sauce and jazz it up with onions, garlic, mushrooms, and ground meat. During wedding prep, I've been fond of the Jenny-O ultra lean ground turkey. I like to add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto a hot skillet. Then I throw about half the package of turkey into the pan and sprinkle red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dried basil into the pan. Allow it to cook while breaking up the ground turkey into small pieces until the turkey is nearly cooked through. Then, I throw in about a quarter of a cup of chopped onions, and 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic. While the onions cook down and the garlic infiltrates its flavor throughout the skillet I like to add the chopped mushrooms so they can begin to soften up. After the turkey is cooked through, turn the skillet onto a low heat and cover everything with the store purchased sauce.
(Please note the nutrition facts on the can before purchasing. I have found that some sauces are so high in sugar and fat content the sauce itself can ruin an attempt at a lowfat meal).
Now onto the trickery. Instead of boiling pasta, I add either the zucchini or the spaghetti squash.
If using zucchini:
Take a vegetable peeler and peel off the entirety of the green skin and dispose of it in the trash disposal. After the flesh is exposed, begin peeling long strips of the flesh and save them in a bowl or a plate to the side.
Peel until you've obtained about two cups of zucchini (for one person, if serving for two use 2 cups of zucchini, and so on and so forth for additional people).
Set a medium pot of water on to boil, and once the water is boiling, add the zucchini into the boiling water for approximately 45 seconds. Do not leave the zucchini in the boiling water for too long, as it will turn mushy very quickly. Strain the zucchini like you would pasta, and allow to cool for several moments. Once your sauce is cooked to perfection, pour it over the zucchini and enjoy!
If using a spaghetti squash:
The reason I prefer a spaghetti squash is because I think the slight crunch of the spaghetti squash is reminiscent of a slightly al dente pasta, and I personally prefer the flavor of the spaghetti squash over the flavor of the zucchini.
The spaghetti squash can prove somewhat challenging as the squash is initially hard to penetrate with a knife. Use a large knife and work your way around the squash until you've succeeded in splitting the squash in half (oblong-wise).
Once the squash is halved, take a spoon and scoop out the seeds and the stringy membrane around the seeds.
Drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil over each side of the squash, and add a pinch of salt to both sides.
Into an oven that's pre-heated to 375 degrees, cook the squash face down for about an hour (or until soft).
Once the squash is soft, remove it from the oven and allow it cool down enough so that you can handle it with your bare hands.
With a fork, simply grate the insides of the squash, which will naturally come out in a stringy spaghetti-like manner.
After you've obtained all the edible meat of the squash, divvy it up into bowls or small plates and cover it with the pasta sauce like you would spaghetti!
If you want to indulge a little bit, top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, and enjoy your guilt-free meal. The best part- your main course is your vegetable, so you don't even have to prepare a side veggie for this meal to be balanced!
I have two simple variations of the same recipe, one featuring zucchini and one featuring spaghetti squash. Both were delicious, but I tend to favor the spaghetti squash version if spaghetti squash is in season.
I love to purchase a simple store brand of spaghetti sauce and jazz it up with onions, garlic, mushrooms, and ground meat. During wedding prep, I've been fond of the Jenny-O ultra lean ground turkey. I like to add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto a hot skillet. Then I throw about half the package of turkey into the pan and sprinkle red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dried basil into the pan. Allow it to cook while breaking up the ground turkey into small pieces until the turkey is nearly cooked through. Then, I throw in about a quarter of a cup of chopped onions, and 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic. While the onions cook down and the garlic infiltrates its flavor throughout the skillet I like to add the chopped mushrooms so they can begin to soften up. After the turkey is cooked through, turn the skillet onto a low heat and cover everything with the store purchased sauce.
(Please note the nutrition facts on the can before purchasing. I have found that some sauces are so high in sugar and fat content the sauce itself can ruin an attempt at a lowfat meal).
Now onto the trickery. Instead of boiling pasta, I add either the zucchini or the spaghetti squash.
If using zucchini:
Take a vegetable peeler and peel off the entirety of the green skin and dispose of it in the trash disposal. After the flesh is exposed, begin peeling long strips of the flesh and save them in a bowl or a plate to the side.
Peel until you've obtained about two cups of zucchini (for one person, if serving for two use 2 cups of zucchini, and so on and so forth for additional people).
Set a medium pot of water on to boil, and once the water is boiling, add the zucchini into the boiling water for approximately 45 seconds. Do not leave the zucchini in the boiling water for too long, as it will turn mushy very quickly. Strain the zucchini like you would pasta, and allow to cool for several moments. Once your sauce is cooked to perfection, pour it over the zucchini and enjoy!
If using a spaghetti squash:
The reason I prefer a spaghetti squash is because I think the slight crunch of the spaghetti squash is reminiscent of a slightly al dente pasta, and I personally prefer the flavor of the spaghetti squash over the flavor of the zucchini.
The spaghetti squash can prove somewhat challenging as the squash is initially hard to penetrate with a knife. Use a large knife and work your way around the squash until you've succeeded in splitting the squash in half (oblong-wise).
With so many varieties of squash, this is what the Spaghetti Squash looks like
Once the squash is halved, take a spoon and scoop out the seeds and the stringy membrane around the seeds.
Drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil over each side of the squash, and add a pinch of salt to both sides.
Into an oven that's pre-heated to 375 degrees, cook the squash face down for about an hour (or until soft).
Once the squash is soft, remove it from the oven and allow it cool down enough so that you can handle it with your bare hands.
With a fork, simply grate the insides of the squash, which will naturally come out in a stringy spaghetti-like manner.
After you've obtained all the edible meat of the squash, divvy it up into bowls or small plates and cover it with the pasta sauce like you would spaghetti!
If you want to indulge a little bit, top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, and enjoy your guilt-free meal. The best part- your main course is your vegetable, so you don't even have to prepare a side veggie for this meal to be balanced!
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