One of my favourite kitchen utensils has to be my spiralizer (UK / US). For those of you who don’t know what a spiralizer is it’s basically an inexpensive (about £30) plastic stand that you manually feed your vegetable (or fruit) of choice through to create spaghetti, aka zoodles! It’s simple to use, wipe clean and in all honesty,.. a lot of fun! The kind of thing kids will love too and a good way to make vegetables a little more exciting! Spread the word kids – veggies can be cool!
One of my favourite things to spiralize is courgette – or courgetti as it has popularly become known. Made of over 90% water and subtle in taste courgette is the perfect vegetable to build into a delicious dish. Now I’m not going to tell you that ‘oh my gosh, this is so like pasta, you will never tell the difference‘ because it isn’t ! At the end of the day it’s a courgette dressed up as a noodle having a jolly good time, but I do promise you that you you will be very full by the end of one bowl and very satisfied.
One of the best things for me is that I hardly have to give myself any insulin for a bowl full of this red pepper pesto courgetti which, trust me, is a great feeling! It’s blood sugar friendly, packed with antioxidants, vitamins and is incredibly nutritious. You can eat it warm or eat it cold. I actually prefer it cold but if you are looking for a winter warmer you can pop it on the heat for a little blast!
- *1 red pepper, chopped and roasted
- *1 large handful basil
- *1 large handful rocket
- *1tsp salt
- *75g / 2.6oz pine nuts
- *1 garlic clove (use 2 if you like it to be extra garlicky!)
- *4 medium courgettes (about 750g / 26.5)
- *1/2 cup olive oil
- *5-6 rashers parma ham or bacon (optional)
- *1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes (optional)
- For the pesto:
- Place the oven on at 180°c and pop the pepper (chopped) in until roasted
- In to a food processor place the roasted pepper, basil, rocket, salt, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. Blitz until fully combined and a loose consistency, add more olive oil if still to thick
- Transfer mixture to a jam jar and store in the fridge
- For the courgetti:
- Using a spiralizer (or a vegetable peeler- peel length strips), create your courgette noodles
- In a frying pan fry off your parma ham / bacon until crispy
- Toast the coconut flakes until slightly golden
- Place the noodles in to a serving bowl
- Transfer to plates - add about 1 table spoon red pepper pesto per serving and mix in to the courgetti
- Add parma ham / bacon and toasted coconut and enjoy!
- NOTE: If you want your noodles warmed : Place them in to a wok for 1-2 minutes (MAXIMUM- they will lose water and will wilt quickly). Move them around the pan
- Serve straight away of keep refrigerated and enjoy for up to 3 days
- The pesto will last in the fridge for up to 7 days
Hello Emi-love zoodles! I am always happy to hear you use less and less insulin units with certain foods you prepare. It makes me happy for you, my UK Friend!! Your USA Friend, Cheryl. Have a lovely weekend!
Hi lovely Cheryl! I hope you are well! Indeed it makes such a difference eating the right rather than the wrong things. It’s amazing what a difference it can make to how I feel! Thank you as ways for your support and lovely comments. Emi x
Just made this again but needed to substitute parsley for basil and cashew nuts for pine nuts, and it was just as tasty! We had it with prawns.