Zucchini Spaghetti with Zester!!!

[Angelina]

This was my first time making it and it definitely is worth all the hype..YUMMY... I even made it with a zester (have to get a spirooli) and it came out great, but was wondering has anyone ever put it in the dehydrator to dry it out a bit? it was very watery so I was pressing it between paper towels!! And my other question is, is it alright to have frequently? I plan to make more with butternut or acorn squash and was wondering if raw squash is something that digests well? Obviously I wouldn't do this everyday, but a few days a week definitely.

[SamuelWilson]

Angelina, you asked if it is alright to have zucchini spaghetti frequently? I ask the same question everytime I drink a half gallon of almond milk or eat 3 dehydrator tray fulls of Allisa's corn tortillas.

This is my opinion on eating a lot of any one item. Even if it is not as healthy as eating a variety of items, it still is healthy when compared to a SAD diet. Eating the zucchini spaghetti a few days a week would be fine.

I think soaking up the extra water from the zucchini is ok. I even did that with the fettucine made from zucchini. The idea of dehydrating it for a little bit might give it a more spaghetti like texture. I would see no problem in doing that. I find that I modify Alissa's recipes to suit myself. Alissa even encourages people to make adjustments after you have made it exactly as listed in her book at least once.

[sport]

When your body thinks that you have had enough of it then you probably will not want it anymore.

[rawpriestess]

I have placed the zucchini in the dehydrator for just a few minutes, and it will dry it out, but what I like better, is to place the zucchini in the dehydrator with the sauce on it, and let it warm up, I also make my sauces really thick, so the water in the noodles, just makes the sauce a tad thinner.

You might try that.

so, glad you like it, it's one of my favorites too.

I also go through stages where I eat the same thing for days or even weeks, I think it's fine, just eat what you like as long as it's raw, your body will let you know what's okay and what's not okay.

[jaurequi]

Angelina, Hi :)

The zester is pretty easy, ha? I don't think eating a lot of zucchini is a problem. I don't eat too many of the hard winter squashes, so I don't know...but you may burn out on them anyway.

What I do for watery zucchini is this: Make your noodles and toss with some salt. You don't need a lot (I use less salt in my sauce). Let it sit while you make your sauce, but waiting at least 30 minutes is best. You'll see it releases a lot of water. Then rinse it to remove some of the salt.
Drain well and pat dry. Rinse with warm water to get it to a nice temp.

This improves it, in my opinion; similar to how adding salt to the water when cooking pasta improves it 10-fold.
It also alleviates the watery effect of the finished dish.
Best of all, it limps the pasta to a much more authentic texture -- a bit more "al dente." :)

Best,

[askcassyfirst]

I learned a trick from Shazzie's zucchini squash spagetti recipe...

After spiraling the pasta (or whatever tool you use, grater, zester, peeler, etc) lay it out on paper towels...I do this and let it sit, or I roll it up in the paper towel, similar to how you would roll up a sweater in a towel to "pat' out the water. I do this everytime now, and it makes for a less wet, and more "starchy" type noodle. It even pleases my mostly cooked hubby.

Doing this means you might need to add liquid to any sauce you make, as the wet noodles tend to help water down thick sauces like the raw white sauces made from nuts...

Hope that helps.

Cassy :)