Recipe - Zoodle Alfredo

It's zucchini season again, the time of year when I start searching for new ways to prepare this delicious, versatile garden staple.  Stuffed, sauteed, breaded, or shredded into batters for cakes and breads, there's almost nothing you can't do with zucchini.  This summer, however, my eyes have been opened to a whole new taste sensation--Zoodles (I did not make this up--that's really what they are called). Put simply, zoodles are noodles made from zucchini.  I would imagine that people on gluten-free or low carb diets are rejoicing everywhere since this idea surfaced a few years ago (I'm a little late to the party).  Lots of people have been making noodles out of not just zucchini, but a variety of other vegetables as well, from carrots to sweet potatoes to beets to cucumbers.  Served raw in salads or cooked briefly and topped with a favorite pasta sauce, it's a great way to increase your family's vegetable intake--not to mention using up a few more of those ever-prolific zucchini in the garden.

So how do you make noodles from vegetables?  That's what I wondered when I started to notice beautiful pictures, like this . . .

. . . and saw them being made into beautiful dishes like this . . .

and this . . .

What I found out is that there are special kitchen machines called "Spiralizers" for this very purpose.  They look like this:

However, before making this kind of investment, I learned that I could experiment with my julienne peeler first, to see if we even liked the noodles.  This peeler (you probably have one kicking around in your utensil drawer somewhere) looks like this:

It only costs a few dollars if you don't have one.  I tried this out first, then when I satisfied myself that veggie spirals were something we would eat quite often, I researched the many brands of spiralizers, compared prices and features, and decided which one I wanted to buy.  The Paderno spiralizer you see above cost me $29.84, including shipping, ordered from Kohl's (of course I stacked Kohl's coupons to get this deal). They are also available on Amazon and most department and kitchen stores, in many brands and styles and at a wide variety of prices.  There is even a hand-held version that's very cheap and simple (you use it kind of like a pencil sharpener).  My Paderno model has four blades that make different sizes of noodles.  I used it for the first time this week to make the Zoodle Alfredo featured in Savings for Sisters today.  This may not be your cup of tea, but I'm pretty excited about the seemingly endless possibilities and plan to make good use of my spiralizer.  You can find dozens of ideas and recipes with a quick google search.  As for my Alfredo dish, we enjoyed it very much!  You can read more about how I made it following the grocery listings below.
 

Zoodle Alfredo

First we'll talk about the Zoodles, then the sauce.  Regardless of how you are planning to make your noodles (using the julienne peeler or spiralizer) choose zucchini that are no bigger than medium sized.  For my machine, I just cut the zucchini in half and made sure each end was flat and could attach to the prongs on the machine. 

Then just turn the crank!

There is very little waste.  This is the  little piece at the end that was stuck into the prongs. 

You need to make quite a few, so keep going!  I used three medium zucchini to make about 5 or 6 main dish sized servings.  

As you probably know, zucchini has lots of water in it.  So the next thing you do is lay  your noodles out on a cookie sheet that has been lined with paper towels to absorb the liquid.  

Now sprinkle the zucchini lightly with salt to draw out the moisture.  Let it sit at least 30 minutes. 

Later, when you press down on the zucchini with more paper towels, they will be very damp, as you can see.

If you want to get most of the water out, use a second cookie sheet lined with paper towels, place it over the top of the first, then flip it so that more water can drain. Repeat this process as often as you want, but don't add any more salt.  

Now let's get to making the sauce.  Here's the recipe:

Garlic Alfredo Sauce

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) Butter
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk (or more)
1 cup canned milk (or more)
1/2 scant teas. Thyme
1/2 scant teas. Oregano leaves
1/4 to 1/2 teas. Black Pepper
1/2 teas. Salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup Parmesan

In a small bowl, measure out the flour and add the seasonings. Mince up the garlic.

Melt the butter in a saucepan.

Add the garlic and saute briefly.

Stir in the flour and seasonings.  Whisk together over medium heat.

Add the milk and canned milk and whisk and cook until smooth and bubbly.  It will only take a minute or two.  Add more milk if needed for desired consistency.  I would guess you'll need about another 1/2 cup.  Now stir in the Parmesan.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Now it's time to cook the Zoodles.  Pour some olive oil in a large skillet or electric fry pan and bring to a medium high heat.

Throw in the prepared noodles and season lightly with salt and pepper. 

Now this is where it comes to personal preference.  Some people suggest not cooking the zucchini noodles at all.  That doesn't sound too good to me, but I haven't tried it.  I sauteed mine for probably between 5 and 10 minutes.  Most recipes suggest less than 5 minutes.  I actually felt mine could have been cooked a little more, but we aren't big ones for half-cooked vegetables in general.  So what it boils down to is that you should cook them as much as you want, but be aware that they really only take minutes, so be sure everything else for the dinner, including the sauce, is ready and waiting when you throw them into the pan . . . . 

. . . . because you'll want to be ready to serve them as soon as they're done.  If you've done a good job extracting the moisture before cooking them, they won't be very watery--however, if they are, drain it off before serving, or your sauce will be diluted.

You can add additional parmesan to the top if desired.  Enjoy!

Note:  Maceys is selling Zoodles at their Saturday morning farmer's market from 7 until noon, already cut and bagged.  They are $5.00 for a 20 oz container.  That's pretty steep, but it might be worth it to see if your family likes them before investing in a spiralizer.  It could be that these are available all the time--it wasn't clear to me from the ad.