Noodles Made of....Zucchini?

Recipe: Zucchini Noodles with Pesto

Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/zucchini-noodles-with-pesto/

Time: 15 minutes

Ease: 5

Taste: 5

Leftover Value: No leftovers

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

I warned you that I wasn't doing very well with my vegetarian eating.  This said, try not to be surprised by the Down the Drain rating on the next couple of recipes that I post.  I will do my best at the end to offer some suggestions that could possibly have converted the recipe from Down the Drain to Keep in the Strainer.

Zucchini noddles.  I love them.  In fact, I thought I had already posted about a fantastic recipe I make with zucchini noodles, but sadly I realized as I began searching for it that the pictures are still in the "Not Posted Orange Strainer" file on my computer.

This means you'll have to trust me.

Photo proof of my previously made zucchini noodles.  Again, you'll have to trust me...

When I found another zucchini noodle recipe that involved pesto, I knew I needed to try it during my vegetarian days.  I have to admit, from the get go I was a little apprehensive.  A quarter cup of Parmesan cheese seemed far too little for a pesto sauce.  But I followed the recipe (as I always do) regardless.

I liked the idea of slicing the zucchini with a mandoline slicer.  My other zucchini noodle recipe uses a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into thick strips, which is also fun and reminds me of egg noodles.  The mandoline slicer allowed for a thinner strip which appeared much more noodle like.

The recipe's author states the meal was eaten cold.  I couldn't imagine doing that, so I pan fried the noodles in the sauce for about three minutes.  Topped with tomatoes, it certainly looked like a masterpiece.  It tasted, well, just okay.  I was able to eat the entire thing, however, it left more to be desired.

Now for the negatives.

The sauce was too thin, clearly lacking extra necessary cheese.  While most pesto sauces call for pine nuts, I've found that they are not essential for the flavor.  Parmesan cheese is.

The recipe states to use four small zucchini and also that the recipe should serve four.

Oh me, oh my.  I don't know what kind of sized tummies the writer and lunch guests had, but I used one rather large zucchini and if Hubby had been home to enjoy this meal, we both would have been starving our brains out after splitting the portion that this recipe made.

What would I do in the future?

For starters, of course, more Parmesan (as if you haven't heard me say it enough yet).

My natural urge is to coat some chicken, fry it, and toss it in the bowl with the noodles.  However, in addition to the added protein that I am dying for these days, I would also add a small portion of linguine or fettuccine in with the zucchini noodles to make the dish a little more filling.  Let's face it, eating a zucchini and a tomato for lunch or dinner isn't going to fill any bellies for a long period of time.

Perfectly Pesto

Recipe: Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/pasta-with-pesto-cream-sauce/

Time: 30 minutes total

Ease: 1

Taste: 8

Leftover Value: 8

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

I love pesto anything.  The only part I hate about making my own pesto is the darn pine nuts.  They are expensive!  A large bag at Shop Rite costs $8, a small bag at Acme $4.  

For pine nuts? 

Now, you obviously get more than one batch of pesto out of either of those bags, but still, the shopping trip where I have to buy pine nuts I always groan a little.  (When I pick them up, when I put them back deciding that I definitely can not reason spending that much for pine nuts, when I pick them up again knowing that I will not make the pesto without them, when I'm checking out and see the pine nuts on the conveyor belt, after I've checked out and my bill is much bigger than I wanted....you get the idea).

You need basil for this recipe.  I love my basil plant.  I'm trying my hardest to remember to water it.  I have serious issues with plants. So far this summer, I've kept them alive.  So, I'm doing good.

I love knowing I have fresh basil ready whenever I want it.

I call this picture, "The Pesto Collage, sans Olive Oil".

After your pesto is a green and white speckled masterpiece, melt some butter with some heavy cream.

Oh, yes.

Then add your pesto.

I'm sorry, I thought just pesto was wonderful, but pesto and cream. Oh. My. Gosh!

By the way, at this point it's important to remember that you should have started boiling the water for your noodles before you begin making your pesto.  I tend to forget about boiling water (just like I forgot to mention it in this post until now).

The last step said to add four roma tomatoes diced.  I have problems and didn't like the texture of the tomatoes I bought three weeks ago, so I used a can of diced tomatoes (drained) instead.

Just as delicious, just not as fresh.

Next time I would probably add extra tomatoes and maybe a zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, or oh I don't know, just about anything green!

Say No to Gnocchi

Recipe: Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce

Source: The Best Ever Italian Cookbook

Time: 2.5+ hours

Ease: 10

Taste: 7

Leftover Value: No leftovers

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

I love gnocchi.  It's yummy and light and different.  

But I've decided.  I don't like making gnocchi.  At least, not the way "The Best Ever Italian Cookbook" prepares it.  If I ever make it again, I'll be inventing my own way to do it.

Here is a nut shell of my experience.

First step: Boil potatoes.

With the skin on.

Someone explain this one to me.  I cannot imagine that it truly changes the essence of a potato to boil it without the skin rather than with the skin.

But perhaps someone else knows much better than me.

Second step: Let the potatoes cool, then peel then.  (They were still a little hot.  Therefore, I left some skin on them).

Third step: Now this part I really hated.  Partially because the potatoes weren't as done as they could have been and partially because it just seemed like a step that could have been done differently.

And in a much easier way.

Thanks for listening to my complaining.

Anyway, the potatoes needed to be forced through a sieve.

With a wooden spoon.

But that didn't work quite so well, so I just used my fingers.

That wasn't fun.  Or a good use of my time.

Fourth step: Mix in flour.  This part looked like it would be hard, but really wasn't.

It just took a lot more flour than the recipe called for to get it to look like this.

And my hands were a hot mess.

Fifth step: Those who wrote the recipe must have liked monster sized gnocchi.  Because the recipe said to cut the dough into six pieces, roll each piece into a log and cut the log into six to eight pieces.  I ended up with about 12-16 pieces per log, and even then I felt the pieces were too big.

Raw gnocchi. 

Sixth step: Toss gnocchi into boiling water for 4-5 minutes.

Cooked gnocchi.  

For some, I threw pesto sauce on top and mixed.

The others I made the recipe's Gorgonzola sauce for.  It wasn't too bad, I was just a little impatient at that point and didn't let the Gorgonzola get melty enough.

Yes, I said melty.

I imagine that leftover they would have been good.  They probably would have froze well too.

All in all, it was way too time consuming for something that I could buy at 99 cents a bag.  I liked it, it tasted good, but unless I can come up with a way to do it in under and hour, I want no part of making my own gnocchi.