The trick is to keep the zucchini barely cooked, just swirling it around in the pan for a few minutes does the job...we made this batch with homemade meat sauce, with ground beef from Griffin Farms, of course. This makes enough noodles for one meal, and plenty of leftover sauce which we turned into a tomato-based stew the next day.
Ingredients:
-4 or 5 medium size zucchini (this feeds two of us, but probably three normal people)
-1 lb. ground beef (grass-fed!)
-1 medium onion, diced (yellow)
- about 1.5 lbs of tomatoes, roughly 6 or 7 small to medium tomatoes, chopped (you can use canned here, in the winter)
-2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp (or more) oregano, fresh basil (lots!), salt and pepper
Meat sauce:
Of course, you can use whatever sauce recipe you like, I just threw this fresh tomato sauce together since we have so many tomatoes in the garden right now.
-Saute the beef with the onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil
- when beef is browned, add chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs, simmer on low for as long as you can, at least 20-30 minutes (my Italian mother always taught me that the key to fresh sauce is time... lots of it.)
While the sauce is simmering, get to work on the zucchini. This process goes very quickly so have everything else that you are eating for dinner ready by this point!
Zucchini 'noodles':
-Wash the squash and cut off the tops and bottoms.
-With a vegetable peeler, add a bit of pressure and slowly peel strips off of the zucchini, until you reach the seeds (then stop and use the rest of it for something the next day!)
-The zucchini will probably need some salt, too, to drain some of the liquid out of it.
-Sauté the zucchini for about 2 minutes, drain any liquid, and top with the sauce.
Voilà!
