Zoodles – spiralized zucchini are not only popular as a way to serve veggies, they also surprisingly freeze well with a few tricks and tips. I prefer to call the voodles for veggie noodles since I typically use both zucchini and yellow squash.
They work best cooked in a sauce or a stir-fry after freezing, but do hold their texture surprisingly well, and frankly I thing this is the best way to freeze summer squashes since you draw a lot of the moisture and they don’t turn to mush like slices or batons can.
Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against pasta, but for nutrition, flavor and satiety veggies just have more bang for the buck, and I will often mix spaghetti with voodles then sauce them with a meaty ragu or under a chicken parm with marinara.
I got this spiralizer, and have never actually used it but since I was doing several I thought I would give it a whirl …. see what I did there??
I usually us this little guy that requires no set up and perfect for one serving of voodles
There are a lot of different tools for voodles choose what works best for you. Personally living alone, and with limited kitchen real estate I lean towards small hand tools that don’t take a lot of space. Usually I am making small amounts so a couple of twists if the hand held is all I need. However somethings you are batch cooking and need to break out the big dogs.
I cut the squashes in half so the get a good grip on the tool. For the hand held I just trim the stem end and go at it. You will want to have a large bowl set with a strainer ready.
Voodles! While it is fun to have the super long ones, they can get a bit unwieldy to process and to eat so I trim the longer ones down to manageable lengths.
As I spize each half I layer them into the strainer bowl and add a layer of salt. You want to use a lot of salt to draw out the moisture, the salt will drain off with the liquids so the end product will not be overly salty.
You will end up with some little bits and bobs from the spizing process, put those into a container in the fridge. In this case I used them in my chunky marinara sauce, but you could certainly just cook them up for a side dish for the next meal. Or add them to your next soup.
Mix the voodles around getting salt on every bit … really salt, a lot. It’s important. Let them sit for an hour, stirring occasionally to drain off as much liquid as possible.
So much liquid! You can add that to veg stock or a soup – getting the most moisture out will make for the best texture of voodles.
Once they have drained, place them on a lint free kitchen towel.
Pull up the corners of the towel and twist closed.
Hold the bundle over your drain bowl.
Twist and squeeze – hard. Twist and squeeze more … harder. Get all the liquid out.
That will nearly double the amount of liquid removed.
Once you have the liquid removed we can portion.
I do a generous 1/2 cup per snack size portion bag.
Leaving the bags open to balance the amounts. I will use my scale if there is a bit remaining to make them as even as possible. Seal and roll the bags squeezing all the air out.
Into a gallon freezer bag and into the freezer. These actually come out of the freezer with a firmer texture than if you made and cooked fresh voodles. It is the moisture in the squashes that make them get mooshy sometimes. These can hold up to a bit of cooking without losing their texture.
I have always cooked, I was that person who could make a meal from an empty fridge. I have lived alone and with large and small families, I have cooked for camps on wood stoves, and in professional kitchens. I have lived and worked all over the west from Montana, to Seattle to Arizona to San Diego. I have traveled, maybe not 'all over the world', yet, and have collected tastes recipes and techniques everywhere, and every one I meet.
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