Two Ways to Turn Vegetables Into Noodles Without a Spiralizer
I am often asked if spiralizers are worth buying – tools that turn vegetables into noodles. While this is a great way to make a low-carb, high-vegetable pasta alternative, you don’t need a spiralizer. Here are two methods for making vegetable noodles that do not require any special equipment.
First, disclosure: I do not currently have a vegetable spiralizer, but I have been discussing buying one for some time now. There are a number of spiralizers on the market that range from under $ 10 to over $ 50, with the most popular version, Paderno, selling for around $ 33 on Amazon . I didn’t want to risk spending $ 35 on a tool I wasn’t sure I would be using regularly, and more importantly, it would take up more counter space. (Paderno is about a foot long and six inches wide and takes up a significant amount of space in the kitchen.) So, while I was pondering my solution, I experimented with options for vegetable noodles that did not require special equipment.
The good news is that you can enjoy delicious vegetable noodles without a spiralizer, julienne cleaner, or any other special equipment. These two knife methods require more skill and effort than a spiralizer, but they also allow you to test the idea of eating vegetable noodles without having to invest money and space in another machine first.
Technique # 1: shaving bands
Cutting vegetables like asparagus into long thin strips is one of the easiest ways to enjoy your noodles without a spiralizer. Watch this handy video for a detailed overview, then set aside a few extra asparagus stalks to master the technique. Once you’ve created asparagus ribbons, you can either season it like a light salad, or cook it by frying it very briefly in aromatic oil and then garnishing it like a traditional pasta like I did with the asparagus ‘pasta’ version with lemon, dill and parmesan.
The keywords are very short because what happens below is what happens when you fry thin slices of vegetables with a high moisture content even 30 seconds longer. Thirty seconds can mean the difference between the above and the sad state of things below.
With asparagus, carrots, or any other high moisture vegetables that you think of as noodles, you may need to soak them before frying or seasoning. This will help prevent the vegetables from slipping too soft and damp.
Technique # 2: Vegetable Julienne
The technique of slicing a vegetable into strips or slicing it into long, thin strips similar to matches can be applied to any long vegetable, from squash and pumpkin cucumbers to cucumbers and bell peppers.
To create a zucchini linguine, I first cut the zucchini into thin slices on a mandolin. After that, I folded these slices and cut them into thin strips. Many mandolins even come with a julienne attachment (or, if you buy an inexpensive julienne cleaner , it will do the same), allowing you to skip the second step. If you don’t have a spiralizer, julienne peeler, or mandolin peeler, fear not: you can still create a zucchini linguine by hand doing this job. This is definitely more time consuming, but possible if you have precise knife skills; just remember to cut the zucchini into very thin slices so that you accurately mimic the thickness of the noodles.
I served my zucchini noodles raw and sprinkled them with meyer, almond and basil pesto, an adaptation of this zucchini linguini recipe. I finished off the itch with some Parmesan flakes and more nuts. You can also blanch the itch for a minute before serving, like pasta.
Not everyone is ready to cut cold turkey pasta. I certainly don’t. For those times when you need a bite of real noodles but want to cut back on carbs and get your daily dose of vegetables, I recommend the pasta / vegetable / noodle mix. One of my favorites is the spaghetti aglio and olio (only spaghetti, garlic, red pepper flakes and olive oil), lighter in color with added courgette noodles.
It cannot be denied that the spiralizer can offer advantages that the above methods cannot; it allows you to work with vegetables of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. But while you’re not sure if you want to buy one, you can cook vegetable noodles this way.
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