Ode to zucchini

Where my spaghetti comes from...

For many years I was a pasta lover. Living in Toronto's Little Italy during graduate school eons ago, I became accustomed to first rate, handmade, rustic edged, silky pasta with bite. Fresh pesto made it sing, a good ragu made me swoon. Thus it was with a heavy heart I said goodbye to pasta when I left wheat behind last September. Honestly, since having kids we had reserved pasta meals for dinners after the kids had gone to bed, as neither of my boys liked it at all (apparently this is very rare, but I am not kidding when I say pasta was downright rejected by them each and every time we tried. It's a texture thing.)

Enter the new Paleo/Primal era for me and I stumbled across mention of zucchini noodles months back. I immediately wanted to try it, so off I went to Costco to get my bag of zukes. That night I made a simple garlic and olive oil mix and tossed the noodles in the pan for a couple of minutes to warm through and rid them of rawness. I put a small amount on the kids' plates, and my oldest immediately reminded me they did. not. like. pasta. I explained it wasn't pasta, showed him an intact zucchini and how I made them and begged him to give it a try. They both did, and they both loved it! And my husband and I did too. Talk about a win-win-win. Noodles re-entered my life and we were all eating more vegetables!

Since then, "zoodles" make regular appearances at our table. Sometimes they are covered in sun-dried tomato pesto, other times simply in olive oil and garlic, and often in a rustic ragu or bolognese that I cook up big batch style and we sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Today I made a bolognese (meat sauce) in the morning and let it simmer all day in the crockpot. I have to admit, I was looking forward to my "pasta" hours before dinner, and tonight I tried a new way to prepare the noodles that made them even more silky and delectable, without any wetness that can sometimes be present if you cook them a tad too long. It only required one extra step and it was so worth it. And instead of parmesan cheese on top (that's out during the Whole30), I sprinkled toasted pine nuts. It was completely fantastic!

Here's today's eats (once again, my appetite is not what it normally is - this warm weather seems to satisfy me!):

Late breakfast/early lunch: One cup of coffee with coconut milk, one chilli-lime chicken breast with garlicky guacamole and crudités

Snack on-the-go with boys: two pieces of watermelon, clementine, probably half a dozen raisins

Dinner: one bowl of zucchini noodles plus meat ragu and pine nuts. I failed to take a picture of the plate, obviously I was too anxious to dive in.

This really was amazing, even if it isn't photogenic.

See the above links for zucchini noodle recipes. Here is how I made today's sauce:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 shallots, minced

4 stalks of celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 yellow pepper, finely minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1lb. ground beef

1lb. ground pork

1.5 tsp fennel seeds, crushed with knife to release flavour

1 Tbsp. Italian herb blend

1 28 oz. can diced San Marzano tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, chopped fine

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

5 strips of bacon, diced

1 bay leaf

Hot pepper flakes (optional, I love the heat but my oldest boy doesn't, so I add heat individually at the table)

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (or balsamic when not on Whole30)

1 jar of Classico Tomato and Basil pasta sauce

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in pan. Add shallots, celery, pepper and carrots. Sauté for five minutes, until tender but taking care not to burn.

2. Add garlic and meats. Break up meats, fry until browned.

3. Add fennel seeds and Italian herbs, stir into meat for about 30 seconds.

4. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 tsp. sea salt. Let simmer 10 minutes then move mixture to crock pot. Add mushrooms.

5. In original pan, fry bacon until crisp, add drained bacon only to crock pot, stir well. Add bay leaf. 

6. Cover and let cook on low for 5-8 hours.

7. Remove cover, add balsamic and stir. Sometimes I find crockpot tomato sauce doesn't get as rich as I'd like (because the condensation is trapped inside, so sauce doesn't reduce and flavours don't concentrate). Taste sauce, if this is the same for you, add full jar of Classico - that particular one is pretty clean. Stir well, simmer for 10 minutes, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. 

Serve pasta with toasted pine nuts - trust me, they are divine.