I guess I’m on a bit of a raw foods recipe kick on the blog. Bear with me — all I’m doing these days is writing my dissertation and eating very simple, raw foods and juices. The simplicity of my days is nice — get up, feed the animals, make juice, write for hours, walk the dogs several times a day, get in some exercise, water the garden, and relax with Eric in the evenings. Some might say the routine is boring; I love the simplicity and I find the routine productive and comforting (at least for now).
Our garden is producing a lot of zucchinis right now, which always motivates getting creative with zucchini-related recipes. We also have an abundance of basil in the garden. So it only seemed natural to whip up a raw zucchini pasta with pesto.
NOTE: To prepare the zucchini, you can use any number of methods — grate it with a box grater for short little “noodles,” use a vegetable peeler to shave off long ribbon-like pasta, or you can use a spiralizer if you have one for long curly noodles (pictured). No need to peel the zucchini first if it’s organic — just give it a rinse and get straight to making your pasta.
The Recipe
Makes 6-8 cups of prepared “pasta”
6-8 cups of zucchini (grated, ribbon-peeled, spiralized, whatever you prefer)
1 cup fresh basil
1 1/2 cups kale or spinach
1/2 cup walnuts (or other nut)
1/4 cup pine nuts (or other nut/seed)
1-2 cloves garlic
2 T nutritional yeast
2 T lemon juice
~1/3 cup water
pinch of sea salt
pinch of crushed red pepper
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Add all ingredients, except zucchini, to a food processor. Process until it becomes a fairly smooth paste. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired (hint: you may want to add more salt, lemon, or black/red pepper and you might need an extra splash of water if it’s not processing easily). In a large mixing bowl, toss the zucchini “noodles” with the pesto and refrigerate for an hour or more to let the flavors combine. You can also serve it right away, but it’s nice for the pesto to marinate on the zucchini for a while. Serve with a few grinds of fresh black pepper.
Bon appétit!
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beautiful photos! i made some ‘noodles’ on my mandolin with the julienne blade; that worked pretty well. pesto probably a better sauce though, i think i did a fresh tomato thing last time which really made me feel…. let’s say… healthy.
Thanks, Lucy! The mandolin is a great idea for making veggie noodles! I know what you mean about things tasting…”healthy”…like that zucchini salad thing we made last summer when I was visiting you? This has a bit more richness to it because of the nuts in the pesto, so it feels a little more substantial and satisfying while still being light.
You are doing much better than me when I was doing my dissertation. It was junk food city for me. This raw pasta looks great!
I only started trying to eat healthier at home (and raw stuff, especially) this summer, after eating out A LOT over the last few years — it really took its toll on my digestive system and this has been the only thing I’ve found that has helped! It’s taken some effort, but not being in pain from what I’ve eating I think has ultimately helped me with the dissertation writing. Whatever gets you through is what I say — junk food, raw food, alcohol, coffee, yoga, lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, etc. 🙂