I love pasta and stir fry. I also love vegetables and try to get as many of them in my diet as possible and a vegetable spiralizer is a fabulous way of doing this. The below recipes are some of my favourite ways to eat ‘zucchini noodles’ or ‘courgetti’ or spiralized zucchini if we’re going to be all honest about what food really is 😉

There is one stir fry and two pastas and the first 2 are vegetarian. I like to cook zucchini noodles in the sauce whenever possible as i think they pick up more flavour this way while still retaining a good bite. These are all healthier versions of some of my favourite dishes. Let’s start with that stir fry…

MUSHROOM AND KALE STIR FRY

Ingredients are per serve.

1 zucchini, spiralized

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms (any)

1 handful of finely shredded kale

4 snow peas sliced in half horizontally, on the diagonal (because it looks nice!)

1 birdseye chili, finely diced (a little reserved for garnish if you like)

1 small clove of garlic or half a clove

1/2 tsp finely chopped lemongrass (discard the outer woody layer)

1 tsp chopped peanuts, toasted

1 egg

2 Tbs of fresh coriander leaves only

Sauce:

1/2 tsp miso paste

2 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp chinese cooking wine

Directions

1. Heat a small-medium non stick fry pan on high heat. Put mushrooms in pan with a small amount of hot water and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic continue to cook for a 1 minute.

2. Mix sauce ingredients together. Add to pan along with lemongrass, chili and kale. Cook for 1 minute. Add snow peas and cook for  one more minute. Add zucchini and stir to combine. If the pan gets dry at any stage add another Tbs of hot water, but the water in the zucchini should help with this. After 1 minute turn off the heat and put stir fry into a serving bowl.

3. Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and put back on high heat. Once hot, add the egg leave for 1 minute then cover with a lid and turn heat down to low. Once the white has set remove from the pan and place on top of stirfry. Scatter with coriander and peanuts. Eat!

BROCCOLI AND ALMOND ZUCCHINI PASTA

Ingredients are per serve.

1 sprialized zucchini

1/2 of a small head of broccoli cut into florets

Spray olive oil

1 spring onion finely sliced

1/4 of a red chili

1/2 a small anchovy filet finely minced

1 small clove garlic

1 Tbs almond meal

5 sage leaves

1 Tbs freshly grated parmesan

1 tbs flaked almonds (toasted)

a good pinch of lemon zest

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Put a small saucepan of salted water on to boil, once water is boiling add broccoli. cook for a couple of minutes until bright green add zuchinni. Boil for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and strain. Set aside.

2. Put a small non stick fry pan on medium high heat. Spray pan with oil.

3. Once pan is hot add spring onion, anchovy if using, and chili and fry until fragrant. Add zucchini and broccoli to pan and mix to coat and combine, season to taste. Pour into a serving bowl. Return the pan to the heat.

4. Spray pan with oil again. Add garlic and sage, fry for 1 minute then add almond meal and fry until golden and fragrant. This should not take long. Take off the heat and sprinkle over the broccoli and zucchini along with the parmesan, zest and flaked almonds. Enjoy:)

The almond meal gives a delicious crunch to this similar to adding breadcrumbs.

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS – THE HEALTHY WAY!

Ingredients serve 4-6

6 spiralized zucchini

500g turkey mince (lean)

1 carrot roughly chopped

1 stick celery roughly chopped

1 cup kale (or cabbage) roughly chopped

2 spring onions roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp dry oregano

1 tsp dry thyme

3/4 cup spelt flour

Spray oil

1 Tbs tomato paste

1 400g can chopped tomatoes or equivalent fresh

500ml tomato passata, no additives

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 handful fresh basil

parmesan to serve

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

1. Place carrot, kale, spring onions, celery in a food processor and process until finely chopped almost mince like (you could do this by hand but it must be very fine). Take out 1/2 cup of this mixture and set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine turkey, minced vegetables (not including the 1/2 cup), 1 clove of crushed garlic and half the dried oregano and thyme season with salt and pepper and roll into walnut sized balls. Coat rolled balls in flour and set aside.

3. Put a large non stick pan on a medium high heat and spray with oil. Once hot carefully place meatballs in pan, you want enough room to turn them. i can usually do them all at once but this will depend on the size of your pan so don’t over crowd, batches is fine. Cook meatballs on all sides until golden then remove from the pan and place in a baking dish that will hold all meatballs in a single layer.

4. Return the pan to a medium high heat and add the rest of the dried herbs, the 1/2 cup minced vegetables you reserved earlier and the remain garlic (crushed). Cook until the vegetables have softened then add the tomato paste. Cook for one minute and add the wine. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated then add the passata and tomatoes. Turn the heat down to medium and allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes. Taste, season.

5. Take the sauce off the heat and gently and evenly pour over the meatballs in the baking dish. Cover this dish in foil and place in the preheated oven.

6. After 20 minutes remove the foil and cook for 10 -15 minutes or until the top starts to colour.

7. Before removing from the oven divide the raw zucchini between 4-6 plates. Remove meatballs from the oven and immediately serve on top of each plate. I would immediately mix ensuring the sauce covers the zucchini noodles. I do this as the extreme heat of sauce will gently cook the noodles and they will start soaking up the flavours. Alternatively you could blanch the noodles first or mix it all in one big bowl before serving. Once combined top each plate with a few basil leaves and parmesan cheese.

HH. x