If you read this blog, you know I have been experimenting with Zoodles (zucchini noodles) lately. Tonight I decided to broaden my fake noodle horizons and try a butternut squash noodle. Wow, do I have a lot to say about this.
I'll start by saying that I think butternut squash makes an even better noodle-impersonator than zucchini. The texture gets a little more noodle-like and it has kind of a nutty flavor that lends itself nicely to most pasta sauces, especially this mushroom sauce. I definitely want to try making more butternut squash noodles.
That being said, let me tell you...making these noodles (boodles??) was really difficult! I do not have a quality spiralizer and would not recommend making them unless you do. I have a handheld veggetti, which is NOT the right tool for spiralizing butternut squash (I am looking to invest in a better spiralizer). I had a hard time getting it to turn into noodles at all because the shape of the squash doesn't lend itself to the Veggetti. Even when I cut the squash it really wasn't fitting well.
Also, the squash is such a hard vegetable, that it really was SUPER hard to get it through the spiralizer. Maybe cooking the squash slightly before spiralizing would help? I seriously got a workout from spiralizing this. I'm not joking. There was sweat. And my arms were sore.
Finally, something weird happened to my hands after making this and after a little googling, I found that it's a common problem with squash. After making this dinner the skin on my hands felt tight. Like uncomfortably tight. Almost as if I had put a facial peel on my hands, but couldn't peel it off. I tried washing my hands several times, scrubbed them with a sponge, and even soaked them in sudsy water for 5 minutes and I could not get this uncomfortable tight film off. It sounds silly, but it was so uncomfortable. So I googled it and learned that squash emits something almost like a sap when you cut it and it leaves a film on whatever it touches including your hands. Apparently there's no good way to get it off except to wait. So, I'd suggest wearing gloves if you are handling a lot of squash.
Butternut Squash Noodles with Creamy Garlic Mushrooms and Lentils
recipe from: http://wallflowerkitchen.com/spiralized-butternut-noodles-creamy-garlic-mushrooms-lentils-vegan-gf/
The first simple thing I changed was that I didn't add any lentils. Mostly because I didn't have them, but also because I thought they would be weird in it.
The other things I changed were in the sauce. I didn't use almond milk, tapioca flour, or nutritional yeast. Instead I used milk and regular flour. If you want to make this really good, I would add some butter and maybe use heavy cream in the sauce instead of milk.
Grades:
Megan - A- (I really liked the butternut squash as a noodle and I really liked the flavor of the sauce. I wished that my sauce was coating the noodles a little more than it was. The heavy cream and flour would help with that, but I was trying to keep mine healthier.)
Noelle - F (Noelle literally gagged when she ate this. Enough said.)
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