My head is spinning after a weekend away at a food conference and a late arrival home last night. Food is one of my favorite subjects, so I’m feeling inspired after discussions about nutrition, and the latest trends and innovations. Fellow food nerds, definitely check out The Food Lab next year, especially if you live in the NYC area.
I’m glad I went, and I’m glad to be home with my Cookie girl and my own bed. I slept in a dorm room this weekend, which was clean and very cozy. It brought back memories of sharing a room with my best friend freshman year (we definitely didn’t follow the rules), and my semester in France, where we learned to hang cheese outside the window to keep it cold.
Now I have a comfy queen-sized bed and a refrigerator, so I must be doing something right. Right?
Right. Today, I’m sharing a recipe from Heather Christo’s lovely new cookbook, Pure Delicious. Heather and her daughters were diagnosed with a long list of food allergies a couple of years ago, and their health has dramatically improved since they removed those foods from their diets. Heather offered to send me a copy, and after watching her talk about her experience in her heartfelt book trailer, I couldn’t wait to flip through the pages.
Heather is a trained chef and an avid entertainer, so her new cookbook is full of simple, elegant recipes that are free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish and cane sugar. I should note that it is not a meatless book. I think it’s magical when people find good health through their diet, and this book is a great resource for information about living with food sensitivities.
Her recipe for zucchini noodles with pesto and cherry tomatoes looked so fresh and bright that I just had to try it, and I really wish I had ingredients for another batch right now! It’s a simple summer meal that is bursting with flavor, and ready in under thirty minutes. Bam!
Heather’s Zucchini Noodles with Basil-Pumpkin Seed Pesto
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Fresh, raw zucchini noodles tossed with basil pesto and cherry tomatoes make a light, healthy meal. Make this recipe for lunch or dinner, or serve it as a side! Recipe yields 4 generous main dish servings.
Ingredients
Basil-pumpkin seed pesto
- ½ small yellow onion, roughly chopped*
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (arugula works, too)
- ½ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds), toasted**
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, to taste (or lemon juice)
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Salt, to taste
Zucchini noodles
- 3 large zucchini
- Salt
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (Heather served her tomatoes whole; I halved mine vertically)
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnishing
Instructions
- To prepare the pesto: In a food processor, combine the onion (if using, see notes), garlic, basil, toasted pepitas, olive oil, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth and season with salt, to taste (I added about ½ teaspoon—if the mixture tastes overwhelmingly oniony, don’t worry, it will mellow in a few minutes. I added another teaspoon of vinegar to help balance the flavors).
- To prepare the noodles: Spiralize the zucchini with a spiralizer (here’s how), or turn the zucchini into noodles with a julienne peeler, or grate the zucchini the long way on a large box grater. Toss the zucchini with pesto until well coated, and season with salt (I added another ¼ teaspoon).
- Transfer the pesto noodles to a large platter and sprinkle with the cherry tomatoes. Tuck the fresh basil in to the corners to garnish.
Notes
Recipe minimally adapted from Pure Delicious by Heather Christo, with permission.
*If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw onion, just skip it.
**To toast the pepitas, pour them into a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the seeds are fragrant and the pepitas are starting to make little popping noises, around 5 minutes.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Iris
Hi. Looking forward to trying this recipe! Just want to make sure it is not necessary to steam the zucchini before adding the pesto. Thanks!
Kate
Hi Iris! No need to steam the zucchini first, unless you prefer it that way.
Monica
I have a hard time digesting raw zucchini, so I always steam mine first. As long as you don’t over-steam them they still work great! I love your blog and your recipes. They inspire me to try new recipes I never otherwise would and they help keep motivated to eat healthy! I love the colorful photos and enjoy your fun personality in your descriptions and posts. Keep it up!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Monica! That’s good to know. I liked them as is, but I’m sure others have the same issue. I appreciate your kind words about my work. :)
Cindy
I like to dip the zoodles into just boiled water for 1- 2 minutes. Drain on a clean towel and use as needed. Still al dente this way.
Keep up the beautiful work!!
Medha
These zoodles look unreal! Love the pepitas and red pepper flakes in the pesto :) Pinning!
Cassie
I would love to try this pesto! It would taste amazing with anything, but zoodles are my favorite!
Kate
Thanks, Cassie! I hope you get a chance to try it soon. So good!
Kristen
My husband could not take straight up zucchini noodles so if you have the same issue, we do a 50/50 mix of whole wheat spaghetti and the zucchini (could also do any kind of gluten free noodle). Put the raw, spiralized zucchini in your strainer and pour the pasta and hot pasta water over it when you drain the pasta. It light steams/softens the zucchini noodles without making them a mushy mess. With this method, you can also add a small amount of cooking water to the pesto to make it cover the noodles better. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Kate
That’s a great idea! Thanks, Kristen. I love the combo of spaghetti with zucchini noodles.
Nicole
You had me at pesto. The ingredients sound fantastic combined and your photos are so beautiful that it’s hard to resist not hitting that print button and scheduling this for an upcoming week’s meal. Thank you for sharing!
Kate
Thank you, Nicole! I hope you get a chance to try it soon.
Sarah
We loved!! I had a ton of basil in the fridge and got this recipe in my email this afternoon. Perfect timing and so delicious.
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Happy to hear it. Thanks for letting me know, Sarah!
Paul O'Rorke
A great pesto recipe! The pepitas make it something special. I threw in a touch of apple cider vinegar and white wine vinegar as I had no red wine vinegar handy. It worked well.
The double batch of pesto then went nicely with some regular pasta, chic peas and red lentils. The omnivores on the house threw on some cubed ham and it was a delight to eat on the deck in the heat.
Thanks for that one!
★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Paul! So glad you all enjoyed it.
Amy
Im I reading right that this is a raw dish (Neither the pesto nor the zucchini is cooked)?
Kate
Yes, that’s right!
Bianca
Do you cook the zucchini at all or is this a cold dish?
Bianca
I’m sorry, my phone did not load all the comments :).
Kate
YUM! I love pesto, and usually make mine with pinenut, hemp seeds, or even sunflower seeds.But I haven’t tried pumpkin seeds yet. This looks amazing!
★★★★★
Kate
Oh, I haven’t tried sunflower seeds yet! I’m crazy about pumpkin seeds, and they’re awesome in pesto. They’re also really high in magnesium, which is a plus!
Arianna
O gosh.. it sounds so amazing! I am totally going to try this out tonight for dinner!
Pooja
Sound so delicious. I have never heard about this recipe specially with zucchini. I am going to try this and will tell you the taste.
★★★★★
Caroline
Love this idea! There are so many variations to pine nuts. Well done!
Vicki Cohen
Kate, which spirilizer do you use. thanks. this looks delicious. so fresh for summer
Kate
Hi Vicki! I use the Inspiralizer, which was designed and sent to me by Ali of Inspiralized. It works great. I linked to it in the recipe itself.
Heather Christothoulou
Thank you so much for sharing my book- these photographs are amazing!!! you make me want to whip this up allover again! XOXO
Kate
Glad to! Thank you for the beautiful book. :)
Ashley
This is so summary. I’m inspired to make to break out my spirilizer!
Thanks and lovely pics!
Flo Hargraves
I made this dish tonight but put in gloves of garlic (too much) so I added a bit more olive oil and red wine vinegar and half an avocado. It was delicious! I also poured boiling water over my zucchini noodles.
★★★★
Swan
I’ve been a huge fan of Heather’s since seeing her on Cutthroat Kitchen. We have multiple food allergies in our family, and I find yours and Heather’s recipes to always be tasty, healthy, and allergy-friendly. Thanks for sharing this wonderful pesto recipe! This time around, I was out of zucchini, so I substituted cooked (then chilled) edamame noodles. It turned out fantastic!
Malou
Ok this goes on my to make list! Love pesto and all but the zucchini noodles i have to try! Thanks for sharing
Cindy
Making this tonight since my yard is full of nice basil!
J Marie
We are volume eaters in my household and we need large quantities of food to feel full! This pesto was a total hit, my kids were shovelling down the whole meal and begging for more. VEGETABLES. MORE VEGETABLES? That’s a first! THANK YOU!
★★★★★
Kate
Woohoo!!! Thanks, J Marie!
Shirley
I love your food!
★★★★★
CLAIRE
Hi Kate! Would this keep well for lunch the next day or am I better off making a half recipe? Looks delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Kate
Hey Claire! You could make the full recipe but store the pesto separately from the noodles, or just make a half batch.
Anne
Because of you, I keep pumpkin seeds on hand and have a julienne peeler. Thanks for continuing to give me new ways to use them! What a great dish for a hot day. I added some parmesan on top because, well, cheese.
★★★★★
Kimberly
Made this today and loved it! I considered steaming the zucchini noodles, but decided against it and they were delicious just as they are. I also added the extra teaspoon of vinegar. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Kimberly
This was exquisite, Kate! Best pesto ever! I love pesto but don’t like all the oil, so this worked well.
I scaled the recipe down for just me and changed it a little bit: I used spelt spaghetti noodles from my local health food store instead of zucchini noodles, used a lovely Chianti red vinegar, and threw in some feta cheese crumbles. I also made your feta fiesta kale salad to serve with it (minus the toasted bread, since I already had pasta); it complemented the pesto noodles perfectly. And a glass of wine!
I have a set of recipes I use every week, and I think this is one I’m going to add. I’ve already made it for two nights in a row!
Lindsay
I absolutely ADORE this recipe. Even my husband the staunch meat eater was loving it. THANK YOU!
Jenni from Toronto Canada
This recipe is deeeee-licious! For smaller households or multiple meals, I recommend keeping the zoodles in a separate container and adding fresh tomoatoes and dollops of pesto as you use it.
I LOVE the crunch of raw zoodles and it is such a great way to have pesto guilt free – don’t even miss the parm or pasta!!!!
Thank you so much Heather and Kate – more spiralizer recipes please!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Jenni! So glad you enjoyed it. I have some more zucchini noodle recipes over here!
Laura
Yum! Made this tonight and it was delicious! Sautéed the zucchini for a couple minutes and added some sliced chicken breast. This one is definitely going into my weeknight rotation!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Laura!
Tony
Ha didn’t have pumpkin seeds used sunflower hearts and no red pepperflakes but turned out just GREAT Thanks
★★★★★
Kate
Glad to hear it! Thanks, Tony.
Donna
This was so good ! Thank you !
Donna
Bomb.com !
Aoife
Hi, I just found out I’m allergic to raw zucchini… while eating zucchini noodles for the first time- is it possible to cook them a little longer (I cooked them a little, I sauteed them for about two minutes), enough for them not to give me an allergic reaction? (I have no problems with cooked zucchini for some reason) Will the taste change too much? I liked the way raw/undercooked zucchini tasted, but my swollen tongue/throat didn’t agree >.<
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Aoife, that sounds like a potentially dangerous situation. I’m not an allergist, so I really don’t feel like I can offer suggestions. I haven’t tried cooking zucchini noodles but would imagine they would lose their crispness at some point. Whether or not you enjoy them that way, I don’t know!
Melissa Staples
My daughter, who is a vegetarian told me about your blog and I have been following it ever since and loving it. I got excited when I saw this recipe and went out and bought an appliance that I thought would make zucchini noodles. It says on the box it slices, shreds and curls veggies, anyways I’m very disappointed, because I wanted the noodles like in your recipe. Do you have any recommendations as to a particula brand that works.Its confusing reading the reviews on these appliances as one person loves it and another hates it.
I’d appreciate any help as I still want to make this for my daughter.
Thanks, Melissa
Kate
Hi Melissa, I’m so sorry for the slow response. How disappointing that your new tool didn’t work right! I use my friend Ali’s “Inspiralizer,” which is not the cheapest on the market but it works great. I hope that helps.
Katy Burke
Im a raw foods and this is the best pesto ever!
★★★★★
Kate
Great! Thanks, Katy.
Emily L
This recipe is delicious. Thank you so much Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Emily!
Winnie Anderson
Made this last night for dinner and it was great. I didn’t have red pepper flakes so I used a few twists of a jar / grater of mixed Italian seasoning.
It was the perfect light meal on a day when I didn’t want to turn the oven on. I’ll definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Winnie!
Katherine
I made it; my mom and I gave it two thumbs up!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear that, Katherine! Thanks.
Katie
I made this recipe a few months ago and it was AMAZING! Never tried pepitas in my pesto , but this has convinced me I need to!! Definitely a keeper recipe
★★★★★
Kate
I think you’d love the pepitas!
Dave G.
Made it twice so far. Amazing!! Added grated cheese, 3 more cloves of garlic and made it a half cup of olive oil. Making it for party this weekend but with Pasta.
★★★★★
Kate
Perfect! Thanks, Dave.
Yadee
I love this pesto!( I make it without the onion and red pepper flakes)!!!
I’m so happy to have found a pesto recipe that’s dairy free and made with pepitas. I’ve made it 3 times. It’s my new fave!!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you do! Thanks for the review, Yadee.
Magda
Hi Kate!
I love love LOVE the pesto. I was wondering if it could be frozen?
★★★★★
Kate
Sorry I can’t be of more help here! I don’t freeze all my recipes. However, the kitchn has a great article on it. https://www.thekitchn.com/the-best-way-to-freeze-pesto-is-not-what-you-think-234486
Jess
Enjoyed this recipe! Really easy to make. Has anyone tried it using pine nuts instead of pumpkin? Wonder what it would taste like.
★★★★★
Kate
I haven’t, but let me know what you think if you try it! Thanks so much for the review, Jess.
Lindsey
This was a tasty, fresh dish. It helped me use up some of the basil I have growing out of control! We added shrimp and slightly cooked the zoodles. Unfortunately, pumpkin seeds can be hard on your stomach and my husband and I both had tummy pain after eating the pesto. We’ll try this again, but we’ll use pine nuts instead.
★★★
David
Hey Kate,
Do you put any water in this ? The description doesn’t say so, but one of the photos look like it has water in the processor with all the ingredients ?
Thanks
Kate
Hi David! No water in this recipe. Sorry the picture looks like that. It’s just the measuring line on the food processor. Thanks for your comment!
Shelley
This was delicious! I had made the pesto the day before. When I got the zucchini ready with my spiral, I heated it up quick in a bit of butter and added the pesto and tomatoes, thinking my daughter would find that more palatable. Well, my daughter, a picky 10 year old who “never wants to eat pesto again”, really liked it. Ate it up without the usual slow distracted eating she does when she barely likes something. I also made the lentil soup which my daughter also really liked, and I really liked as well. Will definitely make both of these dishes again. Loving this site.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad the pesto was great the second day and that it won over your daughter!
Shoba
Having this now and it is amazing! The only changes I made were that I roasted my tomatoes before adding and I added grilled halloumi cheese for protein (and because halloumi cheese). The pesto is totally the star of this dish though. SO good.
★★★★★
Kiley
So delicious – everyone in the family loved it, including my picky 9-year-old and skeptical, meat-loving husband.
★★★★★
Nathalie
What a fantastic recipe! So reminiscent of pasta al pesto, yet so much more refreshing and light! I made the arugula pesto version (plus fresh basil leaves scattered on each plate). I used a mandolin with a “medium cut blade” attachment and it was super easy. Everyone loved it. Thank you Kate, thank you Heather! Will do it again all summer!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was a hit, Nathalie. Thank you for your review!
Rita
Really delish, I do put a dollop of the pesto in a frying pan and heat the zucchini through to lightly cooked. Love your recipes and have had a lot of success with them, thank you!
★★★★★
Kayla Clark
This recipe is amazing and has been such a hit at my house!
★★★★★
Erica
Subbed pine nuts for pepitas b/c that is what I had on hand but would love to try this with pepitas next time! Used store-bought, pre-prepared yellow zucchini noodles. Also, once I had prepared the pesto and coated the noodles, I put everything into a sauté pan to heat it up a bit before serving. On this cold winter night, I felt like enjoying this dish warm. It was a definite hit!
★★★★★