Zucchini Pasta and facing your fears

One of the gentlemen i work with has a zucchini problem, as in every year he has a ton of zucchini. I personally love zucchini and add it to a lot of dishes for extra veg, that or grill it for sandwiches. The man who gave it to me makes a zucchini caserole, but i thought i would be a little more adventuresome.


A year or two ago i made an eggplant "pasta" that was featured by Alton Brown. The reason the pasta was in quotes is because instead of noodles you used thinly sliced eggplant instead of noodles. I really liked this recipe, so i thought i would try it with the zucchini.

What also made this recipe a little different was that i would have to use my feared mandolin. I have always been quite intimidated by this device, only using it a couple of times. The first time i made this dish i did it by hand, but i decided that this time i was going to be braver and try it out.

Turned out fine - i have all my fingers and skin, and it made a really small julienne cuts. I actually would have used a larger blade for this meal as i don't think it absorbed the sauce as well as my hand-cut pasta - but that could have just been the eggplant.

First you saute some garlic and red chili peppers in oilve oil, then adding the zucchini, toasing to coat, then a couple seeded tomatoes, heating those through. You then add cream and parmesan, letting the sauce thicken.
I served mine with a few old favorites - caesar salad and bruschetta.