Zucchini Pasta with Spinach Pesto

by Dianne Wenz


Zucchini Pasta.jpg

  Zucchini harvests are usually pretty large at this time of the year, forcing cooks to hit the kitchen looking for creative uses for the summertime squash. I love to make zucchini “pasta” with my spiralizer, turning it into long, spaghetti like strands. I also love pesto, and this dish combines both of those loves. I like to make my pesto with spinach rather than the traditional basil, in order to ensure that I’m getting a good amount greens into my meal. The raw cashews in the recipe add a little bit of creaminess to the pesto, but feel free to use another nut, such as pine nuts or pistachios instead.

Ingredients:

Pasta:

  • 2 medium to large zucchinis, ends trimmed
  • ¼ cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained, rinsed and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup kalamata olives, sliced

Pesto:

  • 5 ounces baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon good quality sea salt

Preparation:

  1. If you own a spiralizer, use it to make spaghetti-like strands with the zucchini. If you don’t, which I’m guessing is probably the case, you can use a julienne peeler to make thin strands, or you can use a regular vegetable peeler to make linguine-like “pasta” with the zucchini.
  2. To make the pesto, combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with an s-blade. Process until ingredients are chopped and just slightly chunky – do not over process.
  3. Toss the pesto and “pasta” together. Top with the sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Enjoy!

Serves 4