Zucchini Pasta with Secret Ingredient Alfredo

Any recipe with the title “secret ingredient” may raise some eyebrows but I’m hoping your curiosity will give the desire to give this recipe a try. Zucchini pasta is a nice, low carb, low fat, naturally gluten free substitute for pasta. I used my veggie spiral cutter to create “pasta” out of the zucchini and squash. Now, for the secret ingredient…. CAULIFLOWER! Yes, believe it or not, cauliflower has the ability to taste so different depending on what you do with it. Cauliflower in pizza crust is awesome; cauliflower steamed plain.. not so much. Cauliflower smells awful cooked but aside from that, it takes on a variety of flavors in recipes. In this recipe, the cauliflower takes on a wonderful garlic flavor that in a strange way resembles alfredo sauce. The best part is there is no heavy cream, fatty milk, etc in the sauce so you can feel good about eating it. The next best part is that this recipe is completely natural/vegan/paleo/etc. I served some grilled chicken on top of ours but shrimp would work well too. Also, it tastes just great without meat or cheese for those eating a vegan diets. This makes 4 servings.

1 small to medium zucchini, ends removed, spiral cut

1 small to medium yellow squash, ends removed, spiral cut
1 tsp sea salt
Alfredo Sauce
1 small head of cauliflower, steamed
1 cup vegetable broth
1 ½ tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chives
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ cup almond milk
¼ cup shredded cheese, if desired
Parsley, if desired

• In a medium saucepan, combine zucchini and squash spirals, cover with water and bring to boiling. Add in sea salt and continue boiling for about 7-8 minutes or until spirals are soft.
• Meanwhile, puree steamed cauliflower and vegetable broth in a high powered blender until smooth.
• Pour puree into a medium saucepan and add in garlic, chives, salt, pepper and milk. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in shredded cheese if desired and let set so cheese can melt.
• Place vegetable spirals onto a plate, top with sauce and sprinkle with parsley. 

Deceptive Mac & Cheese

My son’s favorite food is macaroni and cheese. It’s what he asks for all the time. His favorite restaurant (that we don’t get to go to much anymore) is McAlister’s Deli. But oh no- that’s not what it is called. It is the “Mac & Cheese Store”. And that’s what he wants to do for Kid’s Choice Night – every Friday. I only wish we could have those special treats that often. Since he doesn’t have any food allergies, I don’t want him to miss out on having a favorite restaurant and his own comfort foods. HOWEVER – I simply can’t bring myself to letting him have these types of meals all the time. I never want him to feel like I do and I never want him to have to deal with the inconveniences I have to so 90% of the time he will eat healthy. That means maybe once every couple months we will go to the “Mac & Cheese Store”. That’s at least until I completely fall off the deep end and turn into an absolute health food crazy (which gets closer each day!) Anyway – back to my point. I added some extra veggies to this dish and blended it so you can’t even tell it is there.  It’s completely dairy, gluten, soy and egg free and tastes great too!

1 cup cauliflower, cooked and mashed

2 Tbsp non-dairy butter
1 Tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
2 Tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 cups almond milk
1 cup grated cheese (I used almond cheese mozzarella style)
12 oz cooked pasta (I used  a dairy free, GF, egg free, soy free rice penne pasta)
1 tsp parsley

• In a large stock pot, melt butter and coconut oil over medium heat. Add in garlic, salt and pepper.
• Once butter is melted, add in tapioca starch and mashed cauliflower. Cook for a couple of minutes until mixture is bubbly.
• Slowly add in at least one cup of milk while stirring continuously.
• Using an immersion blender, stir milk and cauliflower mixture until well blended. This is the sneaky part- you don’t want the cauliflower recognizable so blend as much as needed!
• Gradually add in more milk to make your desired consistency. It will continue to thicken as it cooks.
• Add in pasta and grated cheese. Stir until all pasta is coated and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley .

Zucchini Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Remember how crazy my cauliflower pizza crust sounded?? Adding zucchini probably won’t make you less skeptical. However, it is awesome! I don’t exactly understand how forming cauliflower into a pizza crust makes it taste less like cauliflower but I’m glad it does! If you can get past the smell of cooking it, this pizza crust is a great alternative to dough crusts. Making pizza crust this way gives you tons of extra nutrients and added vegetable servings. It is also very low carb, low fat, gluten free, dairy free, and can be made Paleo. Makes 2 small circular crusts or 1 large square crust.

1 large zucchini, shredded (about 1 cup)

½ head of cauliflower, riced (about ½ cup)
1 egg (or equivalent egg substitute)
¼ cup GF bread crumbs (or GF flour will work also)
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
Toppings
2 cups spinach
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup raspberry balsamic vinaigrette
½ cup pasta sauce
½ cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella style almond cheese)

• In a food processor, shred zucchini and cauliflower.
• In a large bowl, combine zucchini, cauliflower, egg, bread crumbs or flour, garlic, sea salt, basil, oregano. Mix until ingredients are well combined.
• Refrigerate crust mixture for about 30 minutes.
• Using foil or parchment paper, line a baking sheet. Spread crust mixture evenly into a thin layer on the baking sheet.
•  Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add toppings and cheese if desired. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Cauliflower Pizza

I know what you are thinking. Cauliflower pizza – yuck? Don’t worry, not too long ago I was there also – completely skeptical. I had seen so many recipes using cauliflower to make different things but I hate cauliflower (taste and smell!). However, in the low point of my food life I thought, “why not?” So I tried and LOVED it. We all did.  I’m not sure how it happens but when you turn “riced” cauliflower into a pizza crust, something magical happens and it resembles nothing like the pungent veggie. Best part – low fat, little carbs, and customizable! It is a very delicate crust though so don’t be surprised when you can’t load it up with every topping imaginable.

 

1 head of cauliflower
1 cup of parmesan cheese (or Romano, etc. – just  hard, sharp cheese)
½ cup GF breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg

The first step is to “rice” your cauliflower. This helps make the veggie easier to work with. Take your head of cauliflower, uncooked and trim into chunks. Place the chunks into a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower resembles rice.

Cook the “rice” cauliflower in a saucepan filled with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes (just until tender). Strain the water from the cauliflower. Don’t use a typical colander because the cauliflower is probably small enough to fit through the holes. I use a juicer colander (very fine). You could also use cheese cloth. You just want to get as much water out as possible so your crust will crisp up.

Combine the strained cauliflower, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley and basil into a bowl and mix until well combined.

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, press out the mixture to form your pizza crust. I press mine to about ¼” thick.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until crust starts to brown on top.

                NOTE: You can make this into breadsticks as well. Just don’t add the toppings

TOPPINGS

Add whatever kind of toppings you’d like, just remember, the heavier the toppings, the soggier the crust. Here’s what we typically use:

½ to 1 cup of tomato sauce (depending on how saucy you want)
4-5 fresh basil leaves cut into thin strips
6 thin slices of mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top)

Onto your cooked pizza crust, layer the tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil strips in that order. Sprinkle on as much parmesan cheese as you’d like and bake at 350°F until your cheese is melted.

We’ve also tried different varieties of toppings:

                Balsamic Vinegar, chicken, mozzarella
                Ranch, Chicken, Turkey Bacon, cheddar
                Spinach, strawberries and feta cheese