So when I saw this video showing how to substitute summer squash for fettuccine making the rounds of the food blogs a couple of weeks ago I thought this was just more of the same food fakery. But I needed something to make to bring with me to book club this past Tuesday so I decided to use Fort Wayne’s literati as guinea pigs.

Well, dear readers, let me be the first to admit I was wrong. This is a wonderful way of cutting back on the carbs or getting the pasta experience if you happen to be gluten sensitive. Oh, to be sure, it is not pasta. It smells like squash, it tastes like squash and the texture is just slightly off from that of a nice al dente noodle. Who cares!? It’s frickin’ delicious and takes all of ten minutes to make. Twenty if you count the peeling, which goes much faster than you’d expect.

As the video shows, simply use your vegetable peeler (known as a veggie twaddler in this house) and slice thin strips off your squash, rotating every strip.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The only downside is that the process could be considered enormously wasteful since you end up throwing away about a third of each squash (the core with the seeds which is impossible to peel). Then simply saute your “noodles” for about two to three minutes over medium-high heat in about a table spoon of olive oil.

You’re going to have to eyeball the amount of oil, and the exact time you saute the squash peelings. The problem is that, much like the American economy, squash will pretty much soak up all the oil you throw at it. You want just enough to coat it and keep it from sticking.

As for the time, the amount of moisture in your squash is going to determine that. Be careful, because they will burn in an instant and turn to soggy mush just before that. What you want to look for is the color change. You’ll know your squash noodles are done when their color turns bright yellow (or green — zucchini works too).

Oh, and depending on how much squash you’re cooking at once, saute it in batches. That’ll help ensure that it cooks evenly.

Squash Pasta with a light Rosemary-Garlic Butter Sauce
Ingredients

• 3 large summer squash
• 3 large zucchini
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil (I ended up using just over two tablespoons)
• 2-3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1-2 tbsp. butter (depending on how big your squash were, or how much you like butter)
• 1/2 tsp. dried, ground rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• Pinch of salt (optional)

Preparation

1. Twaddle your squash as above
2. Toss with lemon juice
3. Heat large pan over medium-high heat
4. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and allow to come up to temperature
5. Saute roughly 1/3 of the squash noodles, stirring frequently
6. Remove to a separate dish and repeat process two more times
7. After all the squash noodles are finished sauteing, add butter to pan
8. Allow butter to melt and add in rosemary and garlic
9. Add a pinch of salt if desired
10. Reduce heat and stir melted butter, rosemary and garlic
11. Add squash noodles back into pan, toss with butter mixture and serve

Well, this is one dish I will certainly be adding into my regular rotation. My bookish compatriots thoroughly enjoyed this dish too. It’s not often that something that proclaims itself “healthy and delicious” ends up fulfilling its promise but believe me, this one does not disappoint.

Related posts:

1. Cheesy Beefy Pasta Sauce Un-Recipe
2. Bay Scallops and Sea Shells in a Light Lemon-Dill Sauce Unrecipe
3. Spaghetti with Spinach Sauce

You’re gonna love it!

1-2-3-4 Rice

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 cups of water
• 2 cups of rice
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Melt the butter in a heavy pot over a medium flame.
2. When hot, put in the onion. Stir and saute it until it is almost translucent; do not let it brown in the slightest.
3. Put in the rice and the salt. Stir and saute gently for a minute.
4. Pour in the water and bring to a boil.
5. Cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low and let the rice cook for 25 minutes.

Serves 6

Related posts:

1. Our favorite lumpy garlic mashed potatoes
2. Spaghetti with Spinach Sauce
3. Squash Pasta with a light Rosemary-Garlic Butter Sauce

Our Favorite Lumpy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients

• 6 medium potatoes, chunked but definitely not peeled
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, pressed
• some milk
• lots of butter
• salt

Preparation

1. Boil the potatoes until tender and then drain in a colander
2. In the potato pot (let’s not wash any more dishes than we have to, okay?), melt a Tbsp or so of butter and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent
3. Turn off the heat and plunk the potatoes back into the pot
4. Mash everything together with the milk, more butter and salt to taste
5. Don’t forget to leave in some of the lumps!

Related posts:

1. Food in the Fort mentioned on WBlog
2. Squash Pasta with a light Rosemary-Garlic Butter Sauce
3. 1-2-3-4 Rice