These are the kind of Christmas cookies my Mom always made. They take some work, but Mom used to hide them because they were so well-liked; this only meant that we would locate them and devour them before she realized we were enjoying them.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup finely minced shallot
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 large zucchini, sliced into long ribbons using a vegetable peeler, discarding the seedy core
- ¼ cup thinly sliced basil leaves
- 2 ½ ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter melts; cook and stir the shallot until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until the garlic softens and releases its fragrance, about 3 more minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and zucchini ribbons, and cook, lightly stirring, until the chicken broth has come to a boil and the zucchini strips are cooked through but not mushy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with finely sliced basil leaves and crumbled goat cheese.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 155 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 22 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 109 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I had to cook a little longer for a lot of the liquid to disappear, but still very good taste. I also added dried basil because I didn’t have enough fresh. Yum!!
Made as written, I will try again as I overcooked the zucchini ribbons were too thin think I will slice them next time.
Delicious & different! Only change was to reduce red pepper flakes by half and it still had kick. Will definitely make again.
very tasty and easy to do…
This was just okay for us. I reduced the red pepper flakes a little to suit our tastes. I found the bites with the goat cheese to be the most flavorful; maybe I would have preferred to stir everything together to make some kind of goat cheese sauce instead of crumbles.
The recipe itself is okay, but I just found it to be a little bland (spicy, but not enough other flavor) and the texture of the zucchini ribbons was a little slimy for me. And I felt a little wasteful discarding the middle part.
Yowza, this was HOT! Next time I’ll reduce the crushed red pepper flakes to a pinch, instead of .5 teaspoon; although the goat cheese was delish, the heat overtook us all, even hubster, who LOVES hot food. Will save with my notes, and I liked a new way to eat zukes without steaming.
I loved this!
My husband and I are going low carb & gluten free and this side dish hit the spot as an accompaniment to an Italian chicken dish I make. I did use dried basil as opposed to fresh (seasonal thing) and parmesan cheese instead of goat (what I had on hand). My husband loved the heat that the red pepper flakes added; will definitely make this again. Thank you Sweet Basil for sharing your recipe!
Great recipe. I have made it as stated and also in a alternate version. Sauteed zucchini with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and shallot. Finished it off with a sprinkle of lemon juice and goat cheese.
I wasn’t crazy about this recipe. I did have to substitute dried basil for fresh. I’m not sure how much difference it would have made to have fresh basil.
I added vegetarian soy “chicken”. My (non-vegetarian) husband loved this, (but my kids didn’t. Goat cheese melts fast, so wait until RIGHT before you serve it to make it taste the best. I also carmelized walnuts and added at the last minute.
I am the submitter of this recipe-just wanted to clarify the amount of zucchini- you need approx. 4 cups of the ribbons (2 large or 4 medium zucchini). My original submission stated this, but was edited out. I also had shallots or onion could be used. Thanks to you who have tried it and made the suggestions and changes. The picture is beautiful! Little update-I made this again tonight and added the juice from half a lemon into the liquid-trying to cut back on salt. It was a great addition! Never let it be said we can’t tweak our own recipes too for the better!
This was very tasty. To us, the red pepper flakes contributed an essential flavor & piquancy. I made it as written, except I had to substitute a mixture of minced onion & extra garlic for the shallots. (I made this before SweetBasil, the recipe’s submitter, wrote about the use of onions ~ I’m glad to know that was an intended option.) I cooked 4 cups of ribboned mature zucchinis in a large cast iron skillet. My zucchini dish never became watery (the broth evaporated quickly) – perhaps due to the use of mature zucchini and/or the skillet’s heat retention & diameter. Nice to have another way to prepare zucchini with a different flavor profile.
I liked the flavors very well. Hubby said it tasted like a dish from Applebee’s, but he couldn’t remember what dish. He liked it. Crushed Red Pepper gave a nice little kick. Made the dish according to the recipe, including the goat cheese and shallots which I have never used before. I didn’t know how much 2 large zucchinis would be, but used just one about 4″ across and 18″ long. The final dish was really full of liquid cooked to directions. I didn’t want to cook them too long, and zukes always cook water out, so the dish had more liquid when done than when it started out, even with boiling. Goat cheese melted nicely and fresh basil gave a nice finish. All in all I will make again, leaving out the broth, and just do more of a stir fry like BigShotsMom. Great idea though, and thanks! 8/12/09-Read SweetBasils comments about amount, and I can say I definitely didn’t have that much zucchini in the skillet which may have affected the outcome, and my veggie peeler is really small so the strips were skinny. We had as leftovers the next day and my MIL thought it was really good too! It’s a keeper!
I liked the flavors very well. Hubby said it tasted like a dish from Applebee’s, but he couldn’t remember what dish. He liked it. Crushed Red Pepper gave a nice little kick. Made the dish according to the recipe, including the goat cheese and shallots which I have never used before. I didn’t know how much 2 large zucchinis would be, but used just one about 4″ across and 18″ long. The final dish was really full of liquid cooked to directions. I didn’t want to cook them too long, and zukes always cook water out, so the dish had more liquid when done than when it started out, even with boiling. Goat cheese melted nicely and fresh basil gave a nice finish. All in all I will make again, leaving out the broth, and just do more of a stir fry like BigShotsMom. Great idea though, and thanks! 8/12/09-Read SweetBasils comments about amount, and I can say I definitely didn’t have that much zucchini in the skillet which may have affected the outcome, and my veggie peeler is really small so the strips were skinny. We had as leftovers the next day and my MIL thought it was really good too! It’s a keeper!
I had to make this dish 3 times before I felt I could give it an accurate review. The first time I made it as written and my family and I all felt it was just ok, but I liked the concept alot and the brightness of the red pepper against the goat cheese worked very well. Since we like veggies rather crisp, I made it again using my mandolin and cutting the zucchini strips 3/8 thick. That was just ok too. So the third time, I went back to the ribbons, eliminated the chicken stock and replaced the red pepper flakes with cayenne powder. I also added 2 more cloves of garlic and another tbs of EVOO and stir fried it. Tonight we all agreed this is very good. Since my changes were made to accomodate personal preference, I think the recipe deserves a solid 5 stars. Thanks for sharing, we will be eating this again.