Zucchini Pasta with Toasted Chickpeas

I've been seeing a fair amount of talk on some blogs about using a spiralizer to make "linguine" out of various vedge -- like zucchini. This intrigued me. And I'm a sucker for cool kitchen gadgets!

So after seeing a few recipes, I decided to go for it and went to Amazon to find myself a new toy. There were a few to choose from but I went with this slicer/spiralizer made by Paderno. I'm happy with the choice. It is made of plastic (except for the blades), but sturdy and dishwasher safe, has suction cups on the feet so it stays still while slicing, and it works like a charm!

Sorry for the lousy shot. Went too fast with the old iPhone.

I'll share with you my "recipe" but it really isn't much of a recipe. haha It's just noodle-shaped zucchini with some pasta sauce. But it was tasty! I was really pleasantly surprised by how good it turned out.

Zucchini Pasta with Chickpeas

(inspired by Choosing Raw) 

1 Large (or 2 small) zucchini, spiralized into noodles

1 15ox can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1-2 T EVOO

garlic powder

onion powder

oregano (dried)

basil (dried)

salt

pepper

about 1 cup jarred or homemade pasta sauce of your choice 

1. In a small saucepan, heat your sauce or gravy.

2. In a large frying pan or dutch oven, sauté the chickpeas in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle them with the powders and spices. After they snap, crackle and pop for a few minutes and start to brown, remove from the pan and set aside.

3. In the same pan, sauté your zucchini, sprinkling them with the powders and spices as well. This is going to be a very quick sauté. You don’t want your noodles to get soggy.

4. Combine chickpeas and gravy with the zucchini and toss until everything is coated. Serve with a garnish of fresh basil and grated parmesan or locatelli. 

Enjoy!