Zucchini Pesto and Garlic Pasta

So today I have another wonderful recipe to share! I've been wanting to make zucchini noodles for ever now, but every recipe calls for using fancy tools to make the zucchini into noodle slices. And I don't have money for all that! Finally I found a method off one of my favorite blogs, top it with cinnamon, for a easy peezy method. She calls it the the lazy girls zucchini spaghetti which is just to perfect ;). We're all a little lazy when it comes to cooking dinner after work all day, admit it. We are.

Granted I did take longer than normal to make this than normal dinners but I also was trying it out for the first time so it was a slow moving process. But now and again I enjoy spending some quality time just me, the kitchen and some food (although I will say chase usually helps and keeps me company).

We had massive zucchini fresh from chases moms garden and brussel sprouts from there to use too. I mixed up get recipe a little and replaced her peas with my brussel sprouts. Next time I'll drain some of the water from the zucchini before adding the pesto since so much was wasted. And it should be a illegal  to waste pesto and fresh garlic. I kept my ingredients simple; zucchini, pesto, garlic, and topped with mozzarella. We also mixed in chicken sausage as a protein, but really you can go anywhere with it. Here is here recipe to use as a base line and some pictures of my process last night. Enjoy!!  

Lazy Girl’s Zucchini Spaghetti with Peas, Crème Fraîche and Pesto

1 medium zucchini, washed

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, peeled + finely minced

2 tsp basil pesto

1 tbsp crème fraîche, cream cheese, ricotta or mascarpone (half-fat, full fat, whatever you want!)

1 handful of fresh or frozen peas

salt and pepper

lemon zest and Parmesan cheese, to finish

Take a box grater and place it on its side with the side with the largest grating holes on it face up.

Cut the ends off the zucchini, then push along the top of grater, in long strokes in order to create long, thin ribbons of zucchini (see the animated .gif in the post).

Heat a skillet with the olive oil, then gently fry the zucchini with the garlic until slightly tender. Stir in the pesto, crème fraîche (or whatever creamy ingredient you're using) and the peas (even if they are frozen. They'll defrost quickly in the frying pan). Stir until coated, season with salt and pepper, then take off the heat.

Pile it into a dish (I served mine on a bed of raw spinach leaves), and grate over some lemon zest and Parmesan.