Creamy avocado pesto zoodles

Creamy avocado pesto zoodles is the new pasta (well…actually; non pasta) in town. I see them everywhere, for guys out there who didn’t catch the “zoodle” vibe, it’s actually zucchini noodles. There is absolutely no gluten, wheat in them and make a great meal for all, especially for low carb diet or gluten intolerant people. This was my first attempt to do those famous”zoodles”, no need to buy those big spiralizer machine to make them, simply use a cheese grater, it really does the trick. It’s a terribly easy, fast and healthy recipe but also creamy and tasty, the avocado make the dish stand. It give the dish this rich creamy texture, which I believe,  complete the dish to perfection.

Most zoodles recipes out there are using a spiralizer machine, which are expensive and quite big, I’ve just used a mandoline with large cheese grater holes, but some mandoline already have those teeth to make perfect juliennes, otherwise use a boxed cheese grater it works fine too. It certainly looks thicker and more “noodles like” (larger than spaghetti) with the machine, but for now, let’s focus on the taste of it.

As for the pesto, it’s a traditional genovese pesto with plenty of basil, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil. Then to make the dish hold up we’ll have an avocado to the mix, which will bring the whole dish to some other level. To prevent the avocado from oxidizing and turning brown, add a squeeze of lime to the pesto. As for the finishing touch, a topping of dried tomatoes and parmesan. You’ll never go back to pasta with this creamy, rich, sunny dish.

Let’s make those zoodles.

Creamy avocado pesto zoodles

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients

• 3 zucchinis
• 1 avocado
• 2 hand of fresh basil
• 1 garlic clove
• 20g of pine nuts
• parmesan
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• lime
• salt and pepper
• *optional dry tomatoes

Directions

1. Cut both ends of the zucchinis
2. Grate the zucchini completely on its length side
3. In the blender add the pine nuts, garlic, basil, parmesan to taste and olive oil
4. Fast blend the first batch, then add the avocado, salt, pepper and lime and blend until it becomes a paste, add a bit of water if too thick
5. Check the seasoning
6. Add the zoodles in a  pan with a touch of olive oil and salt, just to warm them up, cook high heat for 2 minutes
7. Add the pesto to the zoodles and mix well
8. Top with a few thin slices of dry tomatoes and parmesan

This dish goes fast in, careful… and enjoy!