Name: Bigly Zucchini Noodles
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 medium zucchini; 1 tsp, plus more to taste kosher salt; 3 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 tbsp olive oil; 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes; 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved; 1 tsp lemon zest; 2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh; 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn; 1/2 cup, plus more for serving grated Parmesan; to taste black pepper; 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (optional)

Bigly Zucchini Noodles

Prep

10m

Cook

Total

18m

Bigly says

Listen to me. Zucchini noodles. Zoodles, if you're one of those people, and look, I am judging, judging is my JOB, but zoodles is a silly word, let's call them zucchini noodles like adults. The BIGLY zucchini noodles. The greatest zucchini noodles ever twirled on a fork — and I've twirled more noodles than the man who invented the noodle, and yes a man invented the noodle, somebody had to, it didn't just happen.

My grandmother had a garden. A real garden, not a windowsill with three sad herbs in it, a GARDEN — tomatoes the size of softballs, basil bushes the size of dogs, zucchini so prolific the neighbors started locking their porches to keep her from leaving any more on the steps. She was a tough woman. She taught me one thing about zucchini and I'll teach it to you now, free of charge — salt it, drain it, sear it FAST. That's the whole game. End of discussion.

Most zucchini noodles are a CRIME against vegetables. People throw them in a hot pan, walk away, scroll the headlines for two minutes, come back to a puddle. A green puddle. Soggy, watery, sad. They serve it to their family, the family eats it politely, the family thinks 'this is what healthy tastes like,' the family becomes resentful, marriages END over bad zucchini noodles. Not in this house. My zucchini noodles have BITE. They have STRUCTURE. They hold a lemony garlic-butter situation with cherry tomatoes that POP in your mouth like little tomato fireworks — and they do not drown. Sixty seconds. SIXTY. SECONDS. Cook them any longer you've failed your family, you've failed yourself, you've failed the zucchini. The zucchini deserved better.

Ingredients

4medium zucchini(firm, glossy ones — soft squishy ones become soup, every time)
1 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
3 tbspunsalted butter
1 tbspolive oil
4 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tspred pepper flakes
2 cupscherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsplemon zest
2 tbsplemon juice, fresh
1/4 cupfresh basil, torn
1/2 cup, plus more for servinggrated Parmesan
to tasteblack pepper
2 tbsptoasted pine nuts (optional)

Steps

1
Spiralize the zucchini into long noodles (or use a julienne peeler for ribbons). Skip the seedy core — it's all water and will wreck the texture.
2
Place the zucchini noodles in a colander, toss with the 1 tsp salt, and let drain over the sink for 10 minutes. Squeeze gently with a clean towel to extract more water.
3
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams.
4
Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook 30-45 seconds until fragrant — golden, not brown.
5
Add the cherry tomatoes. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring, until they start to soften and burst.
6
Add the zucchini noodles and toss with tongs to coat. Cook only 60-90 seconds — you want them just heated through and barely tender, still with a snap.
7
Off heat, add lemon zest, lemon juice, basil, and Parmesan. Toss quickly to combine.
8
Taste and adjust with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately, topped with extra Parmesan and pine nuts if using.

One more thing

Serve this FAST. It does not wait. It does not survive a long photo session while you fiddle with the lighting and the angle — you ever watch somebody photograph a hot dinner? It's a TRAGEDY, the food's getting cold, the noodles are weeping, the cheese is hardening, just EAT THE FOOD — so plate it, hit it with extra Parmesan, fresh black pepper, and a final squeeze of lemon. Fork goes in. Twirl. Eat. That's how this works. That's how every good meal works. Now go eat.