Green papaya pasta with pesto is a great alternate for pasta lovers, You can choose green papaya with any of your favorite sauce in place of pesto. It is a great, quick recipe. This pasta can be prepared in under 30 minutes and they are gluten-free and keto-friendly.
Avoid cheese on pesto to make it dairy-free, paleo, whole30 friendly diets. Bored of eating zucchini, squash noodles? Try this green papaya for a different flavor. Firstly, raw papaya on its own does not have any flavor. Added flavors of pesto and veggies make it a whole meal and guilt-free dinner.
After preparing green papaya salad (Thai), I had another half of papaya and tried this pasta, and for sure it is a keeper. Great alternate for gluten-free pasta.
How to make Z(n)oodles?
You can use a spiralizer, mandolin, or julienne peeler. It’s super easy to get pasta with vegetables. Because papaya is a hard vegetable, I recommend using the heavy-duty spiralizer.
I didn’t like my spaghettis made from papaya, blame my peeler. However, the spiralizer does the magic in vegetables.
Cooking raw papaya noodles:
Since raw papaya is a hard vegetable, it takes time to cook, unlike zucchini. Cook raw papaya for 3 to 4 minutes in boiling water. Drain and use. After draining you can either use the raw pesto or cook on low flame with reserved water from papaya.
Benefits of the ingredients: (source)
Green papaya: It improves digestive health, helps treat infections, reduces signs of skin aging.
Pesto: Pesto is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron.
Variations:
- Avoid cheese in pesto for a dairy-free option.
- Marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, or kale pesto can be used instead of regular pesto.
- For a quick version, avoid vegetables.
Green papaya pasta (zoodles)
Ingredients
- 2 cups green papaya spiralized
- 4 cherry tomatoes
For pesto
- 2 cups basil leaves
- 1/4 cup roasted walnut
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
For stir-fried vegetables
- 2 cups stir-fried vegetables
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp oregano
- red chilly peppers, salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Cut off the tough ends of the green papaya and peel the skin. Split them horizontally and remove the seeds from it. Use a spiralizer (or julienne peeler) to trim the green papaya.
- Cook the green papaya for 3 to 4 minutes. Before draining, reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Drain green papaya.
pesto
- In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, walnuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, pepper, and salt. Pulse while drizzling in the olive oil. Stir in the lemon juice.
Cooking vegetables
- On a heated pan, add olive oil, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes. Give a quick stir.
- Stir-fried vegetables(I used green bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini). Season with salt and fry till vegetables are cooked.
- Combine most of the pesto with 2 tbsp of reserved water and pour on vegetables.
Assembling the zoodles
- Combine the green papaya and pesto on the heat. Switch off after 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add more pesto or pasta water until the noodles are sufficiently coated in pesto. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, if desired.
- Serve noodles and top with cherry tomatoes.
Notes
- Stir-fried vegetables can be skipped.
- Choose any type of sauce you like.
- For a quick version, you can use store-bought sauces.