Zucchini Pasta

I grew up in the era when pasta was good for you.  “YAYYY CARBS!!!” we would scream in Health Class. (This is a lie. I’m pretty sure I didn’t actually know what a carb was until I was halfway through college.)  But anyway, pasta was totally acceptable and not at all the evil monster it’s portrayed as today.  My dad would drive us 45 minutes to the nearest “big city” (Missourites: I’m talking about Jeff City.  Feel free to snicker now.) once a year for Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Bowl Feast.  Hamburger Helper was a staple in our house.  Spaghetti was one of the first things I ever learned to cook from scratch (though my earliest memories of helping my mom “cook” always involved Jiffy cake & cornbread boxes). 

When you grow up with that sort of mindset, it’s REALLY hard to break away and start thinking of pasta as something that should be moderated…heaven forbid be left out of one’s diet altogether.  But alas, I am an adult, and I am old enough to understand that MAYBEEE we should be dining on dishes that are a bit more veggie-and-protein-dense than my beloved trough of fettuccini alfredo from the O.G.

So when a friend who had recently decided to do the low-carb thing told me about the Veggie Spiralizer, I figured it was worth $15 to try it out.  Especially since we were growing zucchini in our container garden this year, and I am typically very boring with zucchini—either sautéing it with garlic & parm, or baking it into bread.

We threw this recipe together after a long day, and I’m a LITTLE proud that so many of the ingredients came from our garden—the zucchini, the tomatoes, the basil, rosemary…

This recipe can be Paleo (if you use the right sauce) and even Whole-30 approved (if you use a pasta sauce with no sugar and nitrate/sugar free bacon, and leave off the cheese).

 INGREDIENTS: (makes 2 servings)

1 zucchini, spiral sliced into noodles

olive oil

1 sprig rosemary

1 tsp garlic, minced

1/2 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (we used Bertolli’s Organic Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic sauce)

small handful of fresh basil

2-3 slices bacon, cooked & chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 green onion

1/4 cup shredded parmesan (I get Priano from Aldis—great quality & CHEAP)

 

DIRECTIONS:

Spiral-slice your zucchini.

Then add your noodles to a large skillet w/olive oil, rosemary & garlic over medium heat, tossing/stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.

Then add the pasta sauce and tomatoes to the pan, lower heat to medium-low to heat the sauce.

Add the basil (julienned) near the end so it doesn’t get bitter.  Then transfer into two bowls, top with the bacon, cheese, & green onions (and the rosemary sprig for garnish). 

NUTRIFACTS:

 Calories 269.2

  Total Fat 15.2 g

  Saturated Fat 4.9 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 2.1 g

  Cholesterol 18.6 mg

  Sodium 909.0 mg

  Potassium 627.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 20.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 6.1 g

  Sugars 13.6 g

  Protein 11.1 g