Zucchini Noodles Without a Spiralizer
When this spiralizing fad came about I looked into it and was totally turned off because of the ugly, hard to clean, expensive, counter-top consuming machine that you had to buy in order to make the fancy noodle shaped veggies.
I really like to keep my kitchen fairly minimal as far as gadgets go. I have a few good knives, a solid wood cutting board (actually 2… you got me), a really nice peeler, microplane and grater. Those are pretty much all I use, with the addition of a few other tools, cast iron, pots/pans etc…
I have a really cool peeler than I use all the time, especially to make this papaya salad. I found it when I was in Thailand, but it can be found almost anywhere and definitely on Amazon
To make these noodles I used the same technique I use in this cucumber salad, which I learned in culinary school. Basically by tossing a watery vegetable with a little salt and letting it pull some of the moisture out you end up with a crunchier product. This is often used with eggplant, zucchini and cucumbers.
Have fun!
- 8 small zucchinis, or 4 large zucchinis (see note)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- fresh ground black pepper to season
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
- Grate zucchini using the julienne peeler, trying to keep the peeler in the same tracks so that you get long strips.
- Toss zucchini with salt in a large colander. Fill a large ziploc bag with water, seal, and set on top of zucchini to press out water. Let sit 45 mins-1 hr.
- Toss zucchini in colander to get out excess water. Heat a pan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, season with pepper and cook just about 1 minute so that the "noodles" heat through. Enjoy right away.
- This is adaptable to different amounts of zucchini, but the best kind for this recipe are the small ones because they will have less seeds and will be easier to make into noodles. I usually buy the smallest zucchinis I can find for most of my recipes because I find they have better texture and I don't really like the seeds.
