I was recently speaking to a woman, swapping success stories in the garden and kitchen, and she shared a great idea for a no-pasta *pasta*.
She told me how to make an all vegetable *pasta* dish that I would swear tasted like a hearty bowl of meaty goodness. I listened, I committed, and then I made it for dinner.
I've already made this dish twice in the past four days. The first time I julienned four zucchinis by hand, which took some time. The second time, I used my Mandoline (duh) and the job was done in seconds. Following her instructions, I made sure to remove the center part of the vegetable as it doesn't hold up well when blanched.
I then prepared a sauce, simply using a jar of my favorite red, adding some onions and artichoke hearts.
Once my sauce was ready to go, I blanched the zucchini for 5 - 10 seconds, just until I started to notice it brighten in color. Then I quickly removed it and drained it, and immediately served it up topped with sauce and shredded cheese.
I'm really excited about this new dish because it's super healthful and the zucchini adds a great crunch. It also solves part of the 'what-do-we-do-with-all-this-frickin'-zucchini' issue.