Caprese Courgetti “Pasta”

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Caprese Courgetti “Pasta”

About the Recipe:  Capture all the delicious flavor of Caprese Salad in this zucchini pasta that is tossed with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil pesto.  Add a spicy touch with some crisp pepperoni.  The spiralizer makes it really easy to make the vegetable pasta. I found Ali Maffucci’s book “Inspiralized” very helpful, explaining how to spiralize many different vegetables and fruits.

Cook’s Note:  For a cold summer dish, eliminate the pepperoni and cooking.  Serve it cold tossed with the pesto sauce.

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Spiralizer with Zucchini Strings – “Pasta”

About a spiralizer:  There are many different brands available.  Make sure that you use vegetables that are solid, without pits, excessive seeds, hollow centers, or lots of juice. It’s also important to get vegetables that are about 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide and at least 1-1/2 inches long.  If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a peeler, cut wide strips, and then cut them lengthwise into thin strands.

What is courgetti or courgette?  Think about a zucchini that is cut into thin curtly strips and you can serve as pasta dish.  It’s really a vegetable spaghetti, noodle, or pasta usually prepared with a cutting tool called a spiralizer. They need very little cooking and are the carbohydrate-free way to turn dishes into healthy diet meals.

Courgette is the British, and particularly the New Zealand, name for zucchinis. People in the UK may refer to it as marrows. Zucchinis come in many shapes and a few different colors. People are likely most familiar with those long green oblongs, resembling a cucumber, but round or yellow ones can be found in many stores. It is perhaps the best known and most popular of the summer squashes.

They may be steamed, fried, grated into pasta sauce, or blanched and served as part of a vegetable plate. They’re also sliced into stews and soups, and have a mild taste. On a few occasions, courgettes are treated as a dessert and used in zucchini bread.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-courgettes.htm

pdf for Copy of Recipe for Caprese Courgetti “Pasta”

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