Creamy roasted garlic pesto zoodles are enveloped in a luxurious sauce that tastes like it has been cooking for hours! The simplicity and deliciousness of these zoodles is a must for quick weeknight dinners and will have everyone slurping them up and asking for seconds! Perfect topped with a runny egg or some simple grilled chicken breast!
I have never been one for food trends. Not even in the least bit. As a chef I always like to do the more innovative things and not the odd food that everyone is talking about. It’s just not my cup of tea. For the most part… I mean sure I did the kale recipes when everything was made with kale but EVERYONE did! And truth be told I very frequently had used the glorious dark green and Tuscan version of the super green for years before it became a vegelebrity! (Get it? Veggie Celebrity?)
But then I heard this whole zoodle thing. “Uhhhhh…not ANOTHER trend.” And sure enough it was. My whole Pinterest feed was COVERED with zoodles. This was one trend I was no interested in. At all. I did not particularly care for zucchinis so I was sure this faux pasta was not going to cut it in our house.
One very busy and particularly exhausting day, I asked the hubs to go and grab me a few cucumbers because I was running late from work and could not afford missing another day at the gym to take ANOTHER trip to the grocery store. When I came home and asked for my cucumbers he handed me…zucchini.
“Babe…these aren’t cucumbers.” I said gritting my teeth trying to be calm and less annoyed.
“No? Pretty sure they are.” He responded and continued painting dragons with the munchkin.
“No BABE…thes are zucchini. Not even a little like cucumbers. Do you know what I am going to do with this zucchini? NOTHING! Because I hate zucchini.” I yelled.
“Alright listen, what kind of a chef are you if you cannot turn those sad looking vegetables into something that you would like. Honestly Mila…who’s the chef here me or you.”
Well that was offensive.
But he was right. And I HATE saying that.
Why not take these zucchini and turn them into something delicious. I did survive on mainly vegetables now….so it would be really great if I could add in another vegetable to my arsenal.
So I decided why the hell not. I did have this fabulous spiralizer ever since culinary school when I spiralized potatoes for curly fries. At the very least this could be a very therapeutic activity.
What I did not expect was how quickly this would all come together for me. I had some asparagus sitting in the fridge that I really needed to use up and I just sautéed it off quickly in the same pan that I planned to do the rest of the dish in.
Then I added in some of my famous roasted garlic to deepen the flavor profile.
Oooooh yes there’s the stuff!
Into the pan I added a few heaping tablespoons of homemade Pesto, some lemon zest and then I added in my zoodles. I tossed everything together and closed the lid. I used this time wisely to shred some Parmesan for the dish, you know… to cover up the possible disaster these pesto zoodles could have been.
But there was no disaster.
As I lifted up the lid, I prepared myself to see a pesto mush instead of pesto noodles. But I was wrong. What I saw was deliciousness.
These zoodles had all the liquid come out of them and it ended up creating a beautiful broth. Loaded with garlic, basil and fresh lemon zest. I figured some Parmesan could not hurt this situation. So I tossed a bit in and then removed the zoodles from the pan.
Optional: To make this even creamier and more delicious, you can add a few splashes of half and half to finish off the dish.
I figured this definitely could use an egg..or two to add to the party. So using the same pan I had used for the whole dish, I added some olive oil in, cranked up the heat and fried up an egg until it was glorious crispy.
Another option is to use chicken breast. Just season with salt and pepper and sauté it up real quick in the pan. In fact, you can even sautee up the chicken breast in the VERY beginning of the recipe. Before the asparagus. This would add some nice flavor as well.
So I supposed I should be grateful that for once my overly stubborn head did not win and I actually created something I never knew I would like. I think the most shocking thing about zoodles was HOW MUCH they emulate pasta. I mean it’s borderline genius if you ask me!
So I supposed this is one food trend I can jump on the wagon with…except you know… by this point there will be some other crazy trend that I am not aware of quite yet.
What I used in this post:
- This awesome spiralizer that is super versatile
- My favorite Lodge ceramic cast iron dutch oven
- My microlplaner that I use for zesting lemon
- 2-3 zucchini, turned into zoodles
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup sliced zucchini
- ½ a cup 5 minute basil pesto
- 4 cloveshomemade roasted garlic
- ¼ cup freshly shredded parmesan
- zest of half a lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup of half and half, optional
- chopped tomatoes to garnish (optional)
- Add the olive to a heavy medium sized pan.
- Add asparagus and sauté for about 5 minutes over high heat until nicely browned.
- Add pesto and roasted garlic to the pan and allow to come to a simmer.
- Add zoodles to the pan and toss. Allow to cook for 2 minutes. If you want to add in the half in half do so now. Reduce. (See note)
- Season with salt and pepper and add lemon zest.
- Add Parmesan, garnish with chopped tomatoes and serve immediately.
3. Do not overcook the zoodles! It will only take 2 minutes! Any more and they will start breaking down and getting mushy.
2. Another option is to use chicken breast. Just season with salt and pepper and sauté it up real quick in the pan. In fact, you can even sautee up the chicken breast in the VERY beginning of the recipe. Before the asparagus. This would add some nice flavor as well.
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