Zucchini pasta with pesto and cherry tomatoes

Refreshing, low in carbohydrates, and full of indulgence – this dish is perfect for Spring.

Zoodles have gone from being an insider tip to a real trend in recent years and have become an integral part of many households. The zucchini strips are used as a pasta substitute, especially in the so-called low-carb diet.

person 2 Persons

clock 20 Minutes

Ingredients for two persons

• 300g zucchini

• 25g basil leaves

• 1 clove of garlic

• 30g olive oil

• 35g grated parmesan

• 1 pinch of pepper

• 8g pine nuts

• 2 pinches of coarse sea salt

• 10 cherry tomatoes

Preparation

Dab the basil leaves with a damp cloth and leave to dry - the flavour is better preserved this way than if you were to wash the leaves. Pluck the leaves and place in a cup. Add the peeled garlic, olive oil and pine nuts and puree everything to a fine pesto using a hand blender. Stir in the parmesan with a spoon and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Wash the zucchinis and remove both ends. Then shape into spaghetti using a spiral cutter. Bring enough water with a tablespoon of salt to the boil in a pan and blanch the zucchini noodles in it for a few minutes so that they still have a bite, then drain and leave to drain in a sieve.

Clean and halve the cherry tomatoes. Place in the empty, warm pan with the zucchini noodles, add the pesto and stir everything together. Serve the zucchini noodles and sprinkle with grated Parmesan and basil leaves, if desired.

Nutrition values*

This recipe contains 286 kcal, 12 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate and 23 g fat per person.

Tips and tricks

We have opted for the quick version for this recipe. Traditionally, however, pesto is made with a mortar and pestle:

• Finely crush the peeled garlic together with some coarse salt using a pestle and mortar. Add the basil leaves together with another pinch of coarse salt and grind against the wall of the mortar with a twisting motion. Continue until a light green liquid comes out of the basil leaves. At this point, add the pine nuts and pound again with the pestle. Now add the Parmesan and pepper, stirring constantly.

• To make the pesto even creamier, add the olive oil and mix well until you have a nice homogeneous sauce. The pesto is more aromatic and creamier with a mortar than with a blender.

• Pesto can be made not only with basil, there are various other foods that can be processed into pesto. From wild garlic, dandelion or chard leaves to mint, there are no limits to your imagination!

Diabetes Management

In your CamAPS FX App, the mobile application for controlling your myLoop, enter 6 grams of carbohydrates in the bolus calculator.

If you are not yet working with the myLoop, enter the corresponding bolus for 6 grams of carbohydrates.

We normally recommend a balanced mixed diet with carbohydrates, but want to make an exception for this delicious dish. If someone is thinking about following such a low-carbohydrate diet in the long term, we recommend a consultation with a specialist!

Good to know

In some cases, less cheese is mixed into ready-made pesto and a little semolina (to thicken) is added instead. Therefore, when buying ready-made pesto, pay attention to the composition or nutritional values.

We recommend that the bolus for 6g of carbohydrates is actually dispensed, as otherwise the blood sugar will rise. As the dish contains sufficient dietary fibre (roughage) due to the zucchini and cherry tomatoes, it is also an option to start the boost function during and after the meal to cover the requirement.

This dish contains very few carbohydrates and calories, but unfortunately also too little protein. You could of course sprinkle cheese over the finished dish at the end, but this also increases the fat content of the dish. A suitable addition would be a delicious quark with fresh fruit. This would give you more carbohydrates (calculate accordingly) and also proteins to make the meal balanced and complete.