Recently I bought myself a spiral slicer, the Spirelli by Gefu! I promised to post a recipe -using the spiralizer- soon and here it is: Zucchetti with homemade Tapenade, a great dish for your lunh or diner!

The zucchini strings are an easy way to add a lot of vegetables to your lunch/diner! If you like you can add some carrot strings as well.
Having this after your workout? Maybe even add some grilled chicken filet!

The tapenade is based on walnuts, sundried tomatoes and artichoke, but feel free to experiment with the recipe! The walnuts provide healthy fats and proteins.  Tomatoes contain a lot of lycopeen which is an important antioxidant and is important for a healthy skin. Artichokes are high in fibers and vitamins. Artichokes are especially high in vitamin B11, also know als folic acid, which is said to be important for pregnant woman. It reduces the chances of brain abnormalities for the baby. Not only are these ingredients very healthy, they also give this tapenade a lot of yummy flavours!

In this dish I used the zucchinis raw. Did you know that raw zucchini tastes very well? But if you prefer cooked zucchini you can choose to fry it for a moment in a little oil. Make sure you don’t fry it for too long, you wouldn’t want a mushy zucchetti.  Zucchinis are high in vitamin C and several minerals. The nutrients in the zucchini have an anit-inflammatory function in our body, so it’s wise to have some zucchini once in a while!

Zucchetti with homemade Tapenade (2 portions).

Tapenade:

• 1 sjalot
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 glove of garlic
• handful of walnuts
• 2 tbsp sundried tomatoes (in olive oil)
• 3 small artichoke hearts
• 1 big tbsp of grated old goats cheese
• handful of parsley
• olive oil (as much as needed to get the desired consistency)

Heat a frying pan a roast the almond for a few minutes. Make sure you don’t burn them! Take the walnuts out of the pan and set aside. Heat a little oil in the pan and fry the sjalot for 3 minutes, together with a glove of garlic. Add a spoonful of tomato puree and fry for another minute. Next, add all the above mentioned ingredients together and mix them into a paste by using a kitchenaid or with a powerful handmixer/blender.

Zucchetti:

• 2 zucchinis (I used a yellow and a green one),
• 2 handsful of arugola
• handful of cherry tomatoes.

Cut the zucchinis in small strings. You can use a spiralizer, but a cheese slices will suffice as well. Divide the zucchetti, arugola, cherry tomatoes and tapenade over two bowls and serve!