Are you craving some lighter food right about now? I know I am! This pasta dish will satisfy that craving, and you won’t sacrifice any flavor at all!
Thin ribbons of zucchini and carrot, that are lightly sauteed in olive oil along with paper thin sliced garlic, then tossed with fettuccine, grated lemon peel, finely chopped fresh parsley and basil. Finished off with a grating of pecorino romano and a few toasted pinenuts. It’s so good!!!
Just take your vegetable peeler and make ribbons out of your zucchini and carrots, then slice up your garlic paper thin, by using either a knife, or a garlic slicer, (which I used). See all that garlic in the photo? I used it all! 5 or 6 cloves, believe me it makes the dish! I also used 3 nice size carrots and 4 nice size zucchini.
Grab the biggest saute pan you have, drizzle in some olive oil, and saute all of your garlic till it gets limp, which doesn’t take long because it’s so thin. Next, throw in all your veggies and gently keep tossing them with tongs till they become limp and their natural juices come out. Keep them slightly al dente. Have your water boiling for your pasta, I used 1/2 lb of fettuccine cooked al dente, but you could also use tagliatelle, or papadelle.
After you drain your pasta, lightly toss it in with your veggie mixture, be sure to get all the juices from the veggies, and garlic incorporated. Grate the rind of one whole lemon, toss in your chopped fresh basil, and parsley, and freshly grated pecorino romano, additional salt & pepper, and maybe a drizzle more of olive oil. Garnish with some toasted pine nuts if you want.I make this dish because we love the way it tastes, but then I was thinking, in reality it practically costs nothing to make, and in these hard economic times, this would be a healthy and economical meal to feed a family with. Locally, and world wide, there are many people less fortunate than us.
Raising awareness of world hunger is something going on throughout the blogging community, that’s why I’m sending this dish off to my blogger friends Val, of More Than Burnt Toast, Giz and Psychgrad, of Equal Opportunity Kitchen, and Ivy, of Kopiaste. A group of caring bloggers who have joined forces for this wonderful cause. They started BloggerAid, please click on the link to find out more about their mission, and how we all can help.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
This was amazing, my husband and I both loved it. It was light, yet so flavorful! I stumbled on your site while searching for a recipe for zucchini ribbons. I can tell you that after this recipe, I will be back!
I made this last night and it was SO very good, Marie. It was light, but so full of flavor. My husband loved it. The lemon and garlic really shine here. My ribbons didn’t look as beautiful as yours (I may have to get a mandolin!), but no matter, it was wonderful. Definitely will be making this again. THanks!
We made this last night, and I’m here to tell everyone it’s just SO good!! My ribbons didn’t look as beautiful as yours (going to practice that or get a mandolin), but the flavors are just killer! My husband loved this. So light, yet full of flavor. The lemon and garlic, well… just amazing. Thanks for the great recipe, Marie
The answer is definitely YES! Craving lighter food, but mostly craving this! Such a pretty photos!
Michelle, So glad you and your family liked it too!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! My kids loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Anon, Soooo glad you liked it!!!
I made this dish last night for dinner and it is fantastic — and leftovers for lunch are even better today! Great flavor and texture – I could eat this everyday! Thank you for the recipe!
I made this tonite and it was a hit! The lemon especially gave it a unique, light flavor.
Wonderful food to look at!
Your veggie pasta inspires me to grow more zucchinni this year!
How original and oh so healthy! Love it.
Great recipe and a great cause!
That’s so very pretty. I’m catching up on your old posts and your tapping into my biggest craving right now: homemade ravioli. I can’t decide if I should ditch all my plans and make some or just head over to my favorite Italian restaurant. One or the other will have to happen soon. Everything looks just beautiful around here!
Your pasta looks delicious and colorful! I like this idea of making ribbons with the peeler – so easy and cooks fast!
Sounds and looks great! Love those colors 🙂
Great great entry Marie…I love the flavours & colours! Everything’s right about it…
i love everything about this dish…
something lighter – yesssss
it’s on my list of things to make
as in, soon
thank you!
No mandoline needed? Terrific. I would love to try this, with maybe just veggies and no pasta. Gotta lighten up a little before Christmas!
I tried this last night. What a delicious and easy dish! Thanks for sharing.
Oh, the light in your photos and the lemon zest make this recipe look and sound magical. And the bonus of being economical too. Really great Marie!
What a lovely presentation of the dish. I made these ribbons several times but don’t look as good as yours.
Marie look absolutely tasty and nice!and lovely cause! xxxGloria
What a gloriously colorful pasta dish this is, Marie!
Now you’re speaking my language Marie. With all of the mainly meat-based foods I had in Hawaii, my body is craving vegetables! I do love the color of this dish!
Marie, this looks wonderful, loving the color of the carrots in this dish!
Cathy, let me know how you like it!
Michelle I got my garlic slicer at Williams Sonoma over a year ago, but I don’t think they sell them anymore. However, I think I saw them on Amazon. Mine looks like a cheese grater, I did a post about it, way back in my blog, I think it was my forth post or so.
Oh I love how you did your vegetables with a peeler.. they look so beautiful and colorful! And the toasted pine nuts.. I want to come over for dinner! 🙂
You’re right, I need this after all the turkey and pumpkin recipes. This color is fantastic and I would imagine so was the taste!
You read my mind! I am hungry for something like this. Will make it this weekend. Where on earth did you find a garlic slicer? Don’t think I’ve seen one of those before.
Lovely light food is absolutely what I am craving right now. This is beautiful and what a great cause to promote. 🙂
xoxo
What gorgeous pasta Marie! I’ll take a big bowl full for dinner tonight!
Lovely and light Marie and really healthy too says she who just had a big dirty sandwich and crisps washed down with a peroni:)
Nice addition with the carrot strips! I made a salad with the zucchini ribbons and it’s easy on the eye and delish.
wow this looks great. Thanks!
Fantastic! This looks just right about now. I need a meatless meal!
Now that’s my kind of pasta, Marie! And for a wonderful cause.
I saw this post yesterday (but didn’t have time to comment then) and loved the sound of this dish so much that I bought zucchini, romano, and fettucini at the store on the way home! I’m making this tonight. It looks so delicious and so healthy, which I desperately need right now. It will just be doubly healthy if I eat two servings of it, right? And thank you for spreading the word about the wonderful cause that is Blogger Aid!
oh that does look good….I will have to try this.
Great recipe and healthy too. Just what I need right now. Nice photos too.
Marie, what a gorgeous dish and thank you so much for your entry.
Hi Marie! 😉
This is great Marie…I love the way those veggies look all sliced up like that! What a healthy pasta dish!
This looks wonderful Marie, just what we need after all the rich food we ate. I took a quick peek at blogger-aid but will return in the morning for sure, looks like a wonderful thing they are doing over there. hugs, Kathy.
What a tasty dish for a great cause. The photo is lovely.
I just stumbled onto your blog – it’s great!
What a colorful picture! The pasta looks light and airy.
Gorgeous. This looks perfect for this time of year.
That looks amazing! You are so clever! I love veggies cut like that.
You always make everything look so darn good that I don’t mind eating my veggies. This is perfect !
How did I miss this post yesterday?
I used to make zucchini and carrot ribbons, but I never thought to toss them with fettuccine!
You are so smart!
What a great looking dish!!! Perfect dish after a week of overindulging!
Not only does this dish look beautiful but it has the added bonus of being good for you as well. Thank you so much for participating in our event this month and helping us to raise awareness for those less fortunate than ourselves. If even one person is hungry in this world that is one too many.
This pasta dish is really gorgeous!
I’m always looking for new ways to use zucchini, so I can’t wait to try your recipe.
Thanks!
Oh yum! I’ll be right over.
I am so lovin this dish, nothing is better than a simple pasta dish 🙂
Wow does this look good and fairly healthy… I will be making this one for sure… Thanks and have a wonderful night my friend…
(((HUGS)))
Donna
Love, love, LOVE this! I make a cold zuc/squash ribbon salad in the summer that is similar, but with the pasta and the carrots this is PERFECT for this week. Thank you.
What a beautiful dish for such a noble cause. I am feeling hungry just looking at it. 🙂
This looks lovely. I’ve seen recipes like this in a vegan cookbook I have that used some sort of fancy gadget to make curly strips out of the veggies. I like your idea of the vegetable peeler better, much cheaper than buying a fancy gadget!