5 Recipes Which Will Make You Fall In Love With Your Spiraliser

My first encounter with spiralised vegetables was not a happy one. Remember, only a couple of years back, only the hippest of the hip were prepared to entertain the notion of squash masquerading as spaghetti. There was no question of dropping a microwavable pack of ‘courgetti’ or ‘boodles’ into the weekly supermarket shop. Oh no, those of us intrepid enough to risk indefinite social ridicule were forced to scurry into dark, dark places to get our fix: raw food restaurants. Our reward? Cold, soggy salads costing three times as much as the cold, soggy salads which would be served as side dishes anywhere else.

So if you’re still skittish when it comes to spiralising, I feel you.

From these inauspicious beginnings, however, I’ve grown to love a veggie noodle so much that, nine times out of ten, I’m now picking them over their wheat-based counterparts. The 90% reduction in calories is just a nice little added extra!

Here are five of the recipes which converted me:

Courgette Spaghetti Bolognese

Spiralised courgettes tend to work best in Italian-style dishes, as a spaghetti substitute. This bolognese sauce is packed with flavourful little extras (mushrooms, herbs, Worcester sauce, red wine…) so you can banish any qualms about blandness right now.

Get the recipe from Quorn.

Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

Another great ‘courgetti’ recipe (and if you haven’t hopped on board the avocado bandwagon yet either, this will have you buying a one-way ticket). This one is super-quick, super tasty and virtually foolproof.

Get the recipe from Eat Yourself Skinny.

Jasmine Tea Poached Tofu with Yuzu

This one is a little more involved, but worth the effort, I promise. The recipe specifies courgette, but feel free to experiment - butternut squash is my go-to noodle replacement for Asian-style dishes.

Get the recipe from Cauldron Foods.

Quorn Pieces Laksa

This one calls for rice noodles, but, again, I substituted butternut squash, and it was a little bowl of heaven.

Get the recipe from Quorn.

Sweet Potato Carbonara with Spinach and Mushrooms

Sweet potato noodles are gorgeous with creamy sauces. Although I skipped the bacon, which, admittedly, makes a bit of a mockery of the whole ‘carbonara’ thing, this still turned out to be one of the best meals I’d ever had. I’m telling you, you won’t want to go back to wheat…

Get the recipe from Eating Well.

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