Pesto zucchini noodles with burrata is an easy and fast, yet very flavourful and delicious, vegetarian dish. In fact, made with fresh zucchini, homemade pesto, crunchy nuts and incredibly creamy burrata it’s a wonderful summer dish. You can enjoy it as a super-fast mid-week lunch, light dinner or appetizer.
If you liked my previous recipe, avocado salmon ceviche, made in under 15 minutes, then you’ll love this one too. Pesto zucchini noodles with burrata is another super fast and simple recipe, where only 5 minutes of cooking is involved. That makes it a perfect recipe for a lazy summer day. Wink.
There are three great parts in this recipe: zoodles, homemade pesto and burrata. Where to start? I will start with an absolute delight made from mozzarella and cream. Of course, I am talking about burrata. Yummy! I love it. It’s solid yet tender on the outside and filled with stracciatella and cream on the inside.
If you haven’t tried it before, please, run to buy one, now. Wink. It’s unbelievable creamy, soft and delicious. Burrata comes from Italy, to be exact from the region Puglia and it’s made out of cow milk (sometimes also buffalo milk). You can’t miss it, it has a round shape (similar to mozzarella) with a typical clasp on top.
How to make zucchini noodles
Zucchini noodles are fresh zucchini cut into noodle-look-a-like strips. You can make them out of any zucchini, either small or big. The easiest way of making them is to use a spiralizer. That’s basically a kitchen tool, which turns almost any vegetable into long and thin strands. Having said that, I used a handheld spiralizer, which is small (you can store it in a drawer) but effective and really handy. Wink.
However, if you don’t own one, you can still make them with a julienne peeler, mandoline or a potato peeler. I am sure you all have at least one potato peeler at home. I have two. Wink. But keep in mind that the zoodles will be straight when you’ll use a peeler and not curled like with a spiralizer.
Anyway, after you peel long strips, you stack them into a pile and then cut (still lengthwise) into 3 mm thick strips. As a result, you’ll get green zucchini “noodles” also called zoodles, which resemble the most famous pasta, spaghetti.
Healthy, inexpensive, delicious zucchini
Zucchini are a great vegetable: easy to prepare, budget-friendly, with a neutral flavour and low in calories. Also, zoodles are a great alternative to the grain-based kinds of pasta. Are you a zucchini lover? Then jump here to these delicious recipes: a beautiful golden zucchini salad, cute zucchini cream cheese puff pastry shells, a simple rice-filled zucchini, a delicious almond butter chicken, summerish bacon-wrapped zucchini corn skewers, a savoury tomato zucchini goat cheese tart, a vegan glass noodles with noodles, the fun summer squash boats or tagliatelle with zucchini ragu.
Additionally, what makes this dish even more perfect is homemade pesto. Making pesto is the simplest thing to do. I combined spring onions, some sunflower seeds, coriander, obviously olive oil and fresh lemon. And, because we don’t want any food going to waste, I added the zucchini’s leftover, too. As a result, you’ll get a creamy green pesto.
Ingredients for two portions of pesto zucchini noodles with burrata:
- 2 zucchini
- 1 spring onion
- a bund of coriander (chopped)
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 Tbsp of sunflower seeds
- salt
- 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil
- 1 burrata
- a handful of any nuts (cashew, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts)
To begin, wash and dry the zucchini. Cut off the stem end and create the zoodles, either using the spiralizer, julienne peeler, mandoline or a potato peeler. If you have a big zucchini, don’t use the seedy center, as that part can taste a bit bitter and break apart easily, but keep it for the pesto. When using a mandoline or a potato peeler, simply make long strips, then stack them together in a pile and cut them into thin long strips.
Then, prepare the creamy pesto. Combine roughly chopped spring onion, cilantro (chopped stems), sunflower seeds, a pinch of salt, olive oil, juice of half a lemon and the rests of the zucchini (the seedy part and the ends). In case you don’t have any rests, simply take a couple of zoodles. Wink. With an immersion blender or a food processor, blend until smooth.
Furthermore, drizzle some olive oil in a larger frying pan, add the zoodles and saute them for 4-5 minutes or until slightly tender. Do not overcook them or they will break apart. Then, add 2/3 of pesto to the zoodles and toss gently.
Finally, divide the zoodles into two plates, spoon the rest of the pesto on top and garnish with some nuts. Last but not least, carefully cut the burrata in half and place one half on each plate. Pesto zucchini noodles with burrata are a wonderful idea for a light supper, summer lunch or, when served in smaller portions, as an appetizer.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
