Making pasta more pasta-like?

[Hanalei]

I don't have a spiralizer (not sure where to find one!). We made carrot pasta tonight for dinner, and I tried to cut it in thin strips so it was more like pasta. It tasted good, but the problem was that it was still really hard and stiff and completely not pasta-like, and was a little challenging to eat. Even after being in the sauce, it wasn't remotely soft or flippy like cooked pasta. Is there a way to make raw pasta taste and appear more like pasta, instead of strips of veggies? Does a spiralizer do this?

[michigan roman]

ive never used the thing at below link , but many women raw foodist have stated they love this exact spiralizer . some much so im going to buy one soon :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007Y9WHQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[thenewamanda]

I have that same spiralizer that you linked to and I absolutely love it. I make zuchinni pasta all the time.

[DebB]

The spiralizer works very well. The problem was that carrots will probably not get soft - they're just too firm of a veggie. (And you can't spiralize them on my unit - I tried last week).

What does work really well is zucchini and/or yellow squash. You can do others, but these are my choices.

I like to spiralize them onto a towel covered tray and let them air dry on the countertop for about 6 hours. Lately though - I've actually been marinating them in just a little olive oil and tamari, this really wilts them down nicely. To the point where there's no problem twirling them onto a fork. I drain them first though, because the marinade really pulls out the water.

Now - having said all that -- as fun as a spiralizer is, you can do the same thing with a julienne peeler. That can probably be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I went to a raw food restaurant last year and that's what they used.

You can even do this. Peel the zuccchini with a veggie peeler into long thing 'noodles'. Then stack those noodles and cut them thinly with a knife. Just tossing out ideas :)

[michigan roman]

deb are these things any good : http://www.simplygoodstuff.com/borner_julienne-slicer.html

[Hanalei]

So it's just a carrot thing, then? And squash and zucchini, when marinated, can be twirled like pasta? I'll have to try slicing them like you said and see how that works for me. What about parsnips and jicama? Are those too firm to make good pasta?

[DebB]

deb are these things any good : http://www.simplygoodstuff.com/borner_julienne-slicer.html

I've never seen that julienne slicer before MR - but I like the looks of the julienne it yields. I wish I could help out more, but this is a new one to me :) You are quite the sleuth - where do you find these goodies!

[michigan roman]

it was a link from amazon , amazon has everything dont they . did you see this curly slicer : http://www.simplygoodstuff.com/borner_curly-slicer.html

[DebB]

So it's just a carrot thing, then? And squash and zucchini, when marinated, can be twirled like pasta? I'll have to try slicing them like you said and see how that works for me. What about parsnips and jicama? Are those too firm to make good pasta?

Yes, it's because the carrot is so much firmer than say, a zucchini. Even if you were to marinade a carrot, I don't know how much it would actually soften it as far as being pasta-like.

As far as parsnips and jicama -- No, those are not going to make the same texture of pasta as zucchini, they're too firm for that. And I can personally speak about jicama - even if it were cooked, it doesn't soften up. I tried (even for 2 days in crock pot) back in my low carb days to experiment with it as a substitute for potatato. Now - you could spiralize parsnip. I've spiralized butternut squash as well. The squash was beautiful, but I just didn't care for it as pasta.

But this may all be just my taste. You might like it just fine, ya know?

Others spiralize cucumber for pasta. I haven't tried that one yet.

And please know - that marinating the zucchini is just something I do because I prefer a cooked texture. I've never really seen or heard of others doing this. I just did it tonight for my dinner. I actually added sliced mushrooms in the marinade too, so I had the zucchini and mushrooms marinading together. It was very cooked like. I used about equal parts, less than 1 tablespoon each - probably more like 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons each.

[DebB]

it was a link from amazon , amazon has everything dont they . did you see this curly slicer : http://www.simplygoodstuff.com/borner_curly-slicer.html

Now you've got me laughing! I've never seen that one either or the ribbon you get from it! How neat :)

[DebB]

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I found these pics of mine and thought they might be of interest here.

I wish I knew how to do this better... The first one is zucchini or yellow squash that's only been air dried (not marinated) with marinara sauce.

The next one is the butternut squash I mentioned above with a pesto sauce. Look pretty, but it was so rich, I won't be making that one again.

Air drying zucchini noodles (made with spiralizer)

The butternut squash - looks like carrot doens't it?

[MysticTree]

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I found these pics of mine and thought they might be of interest here.

They certainly look the dog's doo-dahs! This is the year I will get a spiraliser. Probably not until May or thereabouts but it will happen.

[DebB]

They certainly look the dog's doo-dahs! This is the year I will get a spiraliser. Probably not until May or thereabouts but it will happen.

That one took a couple of read throughs Georgina - hahaha! May is just around the corner ~ You'll have a lot of fun with it!!

[DebB]

Here's some I snapped recently to show the julienne peeler - a GREAT option for a whole lot le$$

http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad169/DebB4007/ResizeofDSCF0011.jpg Julienne peeler. I think you can find these at places like BB&B.

http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad169/DebB4007/ResizeofDSCF0012.jpg Noodles made with the julienne peeler.

[walnutty]

I haven't tried this yet, but have been meaning to for a long time....

You know how a dehydrator "softens" vegetables before it hardens them, because of the warm air? I wonder how lightly coated (with olive oil) zucchini noodles (or other veggies) would do left in the EX for a while? I would think they would soften quite a bit! Okay, now I need to do this like yesterday! Ü

[MysticTree]

I already use a regular peeler to make a taglietelle style pasta and have been thinking i should get a julienne peeler but am definitely hankering for the whole nine yard spiraliser.

[DebB]

I haven't tried this yet, but have been meaning to for a long time....

You know how a dehydrator "softens" vegetables before it hardens them, because of the warm air? I wonder how lightly coated (with olive oil) zucchini noodles (or other veggies) would do left in the EX for a while? I would think they would soften quite a bit! Okay, now I need to do this like yesterday! Ü

Hi walnutty - Yes, you can do this, but don't do like I did. I completely underestimated how long to leave them in there (once spiralized). I came back to zucchini threads (yikes). But I did not toss them in oil first, that would make a difference.

[DebB]

I already use a regular peeler to make a taglietelle style pasta and have been thinking i should get a julienne peeler but am definitely hankering for the whole nine yard spiraliser.

I really like the noodle size with the julienne peeler, it's more fine than with the spiralizer.

With the spiralizer though - you will get such long noodles. They can be as long as a person is tall. We had a friend over for dinner serving these noodles and he asked, "Just how big WAS that zucchini??" *Ü*