Recipe: Zucchini Noodle Alla Norma

New year, new me, blah, blah, blah.

Like most people in the universe, I'm using the new year as an excuse to try and eat a little healthier, move a little more, and get to a place where I'm happier about "me." I just completed a 3 day Blueprint juice cleanse (I'd write about it, but I've written about juice cleanses before - it's like a marathon - tough, long, and if your head is in the wrong place, you're going to fail) After you finish a juice cleanse, you're advised to eat "light," so I decided to make a dish loosely inspired by a recipe I saw on Inspiralized, a site dedicated to using a spiralizer to make vegetables into noodles and other fun shapes. Instead of noodles, this dish uses zoodles, or noodles made out of spiralized zucchini, and is topped with a flavorful tomato and eggplant sauce. Here's a link to the original Zucchini Pasta Alla Norma Recipe. My modified, boozier recipe follows below.

A photo posted by Roxanne (@roxetta) on Jan 8, 2016 at 5:47pm PST

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini - OR a package of zoodles (now sold at Whole Foods and other finer grocery stores - look in the produce section)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Vegetable stock or broth - 1/4 cup
• 1 medium eggplant, diced
• 2 + garlic cloves, minced (use as much or as little as you like)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup red wine
• Fresh basil - chiffonade or whole leaves - 1/4 cup
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• Optional: balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Spiralize your zucchini and set it aside. 
2. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil, onions, and vegetable stock and cook until the onions are translucent. 
3. Add the eggplant and garlic and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Ad both cans of tomatoes, a pinch of red pepper flakes, oregano, Italian seasoning and bring mixture to a simmer.
5. While eggplant and tomato sauce is cooking, bring a small skillet to medium heat. Put pine nuts in the pan and toast (with no oil) until they start to just turn a darker tan color. Set aside.
6. Add wine to eggplant tomato sauce. Continue to cook until wine has evaporated and eggplant is a soft but still slightly firm consistency. (mushy eggplant = no bueno)
7. Fold fresh basil into the sauce just before serving and stir. Leave a few pieces aside for plating.
8. Drain any excess water from zoodles. 
9. Split zucchini noodles into 2 or 3 portions and top with eggplant tomato sauce. Toss a handful of pine nuts and a few pieces of basil on top and serve immediately. 
10. Optional: I like eggplant topped with balsamic vinegar, so I put a splash of that on my zoodle dish.

My dish was a lightened up version of the Inspiralized one, but I think adding extra garlic, cooking everything all together for a longer amount of time, and adding a touch of red wine and basil added a lot of flavor. I could eat zoodles and egpplant daily, so this is definitely a dish I'll be making again.