Pesto zoodles with caramelised onions and prawns

(serves 2)

As with all good discoveries, this one started with a sale :) I bought a kilo of zucchinis for a bargain $3, and of course had to find a way to use them. Originally i was looking up variations of zucchini sauces for pasta, which somehow brought me to this Paleo/gluten-free diet version of spaghetti or noodles, fondly nicknamed zoodles, which is essentially zucchini shredded and cooked to replace spaghetti or noodles.

It turns out that zoodles are very quick to sauté, and i think reasonably quick to prepare if i had a decent julienne peeler - our one unfortunately leaves the strands stuck together so i had to individually slice them off still :P It is definitely a healthy variation on pasta and gets your vegetable intake up, though not sure that i would use it all the time as my love for pasta is hard to replace!

Prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients
1 onion
3 zucchini
2 T basil pesto
dash of cream
handful of cherry tomatoes
6-8 prawns, deveined
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
handful of pine nuts, toasted

Special equipment: julienne peeler or spiraliser

Method
1. Finely slice the onions. 
2. Heat a pan on low-medium heat with 1/2 T olive oil, and sauté the onions for 5 minutes until soft. Add in a dash of balsamic vinegar and allow to soften and caramelise for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, using the julienne peeler, peel the zucchini on one side until you reach the seeds, then rotate and peel the next side until only the seeds are left.

4. On medium heat with 1/2 T olive oil, sauté the zucchini strips (zoodles) with salt and pepper for 2-3 minutes until soft. 

5. Mix in the pesto and the dash of cream to the zoodles, then add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and toss through the caramelised onion. 

6. In a separate pan, add a dash of oil and add the garlic, prawns and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 3-5 minutes until pink and cooked through.
7. To serve, combine the zoodles with the cherry tomatoes, then top with prawns and sprinkle with pine nuts.