Zucchini "Pasta" with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

There’s a heat wave coming to Philly.  Can you feel it?  

I hate heat waves.  I’m more of a crisp-fall-day kind of gal, not so much a roast-in-the-hot-sun gal.  It doesn’t help that I’m extremely pale and tend to burn just by thinking about sitting outside.  Plus, the Russian half of me just craves cooler (and drier) weather.

So when summer heat waves roll in, I tend to stay inside with the air conditioning.  I drink cold smoothies, I eat cold ice cream, and I often refuse to touch the stove or the oven.  But when I need to make a meal without the use of a stove, I have to think outside the box.

Today, it’s zucchini pasta.  I really like shredding zucchini into spaghetti-like strands.  You can totally warm them up with a little olive oil and salt on the stove top, but it’s also perfectly delicious raw, with just a bit of a crunch (which I love).

I had a jar of roasted red peppers on hand, so I pureed those with some walnuts and almond milk to make a creamy sauce.  While I am normally a huge fan of roasting peppers myself, a jar in the pantry is exactly what I need on these oven-less days.

Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients:

3-4 zucchinis, depending on size (you could also totally use yellow squash)

1 jar of roasted red peppers

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, plus more for topping

1/2 cup fresh basil

3 tablespoons almond milk

1 cup black olives, halved

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Wash, trim, and peel the zucchini.  Using a peeler, a mandolin, a food processor, a grater, or whatever you have on hand, shred the zucchini into thin strips.  The mandolin I used created slivers along the same lines of angel hair pasta.  Scoop the shreds into a bowl, cover with a damp paper towel, and set aside.

2.  Put the walnuts into a food processor and pulse until they create a fine crumble.  Scrape down the sides and add the almond milk.  Let the food processor run, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the nuts and the milk create a paste.

3.  Add the peppers and the basil to the food processor, and let it go for a few minutes until a nice, smooth texture is achieved.  Add salt and pepper, to taste.

4.  Toss the olives with the shredded zucchini and plate it.  Top with the red pepper sauce, and any extra garnishes (extra chopped walnuts, slivered basil, etc.).  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!