Courgetti: Courgette Spaghetti

Courgette (known as zuchinni to our friends across the pond) is one of the most versatile, easy-to-prepare ingredients you can find. 

Using a julienne peeler (which you can easily buy online for about £3) you can use this wondrous vegetable to make courgetti: courgette spaghetti.

Simple to make, so deliciously crunchy, so refreshing on a hot day, so good for you. 

Gram for gram, ordinary white spaghetti contains ten times the calories and none of your daily vitamin C recommendation (courgettes have 30%).

(image sourced here)

Per 100g, you will get 17 calories, 0 of which come from fat. In fact, 95 of those 100 grams come from water, meaning that when you eat a courgette, you are not only upping your hydration, you are also getting full without taking on too much extra energy. Ideal for those watching the waistline or going low-carb.

The How-To:

- Quite literally, use the julienne peeler as you would a potato peeler - but instead of making slice it makes spaghetti strands. 

- Use the whole courgette - the dark green skin looks great and contains lots of fibre

- You can cook the courgetti by popping it into the sauce you're planning on putting over it, but I prefer to keep it raw and get the great crunch!

Other ways to use the ever-so-excellent courgette:

- Scooped out and grilled to use as taco shells

- Sliced to use instead of pasta sheets in lasagne

- Thickly sliced and flash-grilled in a sandwich press as an easy veg side in the workplace

- Courgette pizza bases

- Sliced and topped with cottage cheese and salmon for a healthy (and good looking!) starter at a dinner party.