Ten ingredients and forty-five minutes. The zucchini is salted and rested for ten of those before it ever meets the sauce.
Both noodles are here in roughly equal visible proportions, and both are meant to stay identifiable in the dish. There is no meat in it at all.
Why This Recipe Works
- Salting and squeezing the zucchini removes the water that would thin a cream sauce.
- Pulling the spaghetti two minutes shy of al dente leaves room for the bake.
- Simmering the cream gently for three minutes thickens it before any cheese goes in.
- Folding rather than stirring keeps both noodles visible rather than breaking the zucchini.
- A short bake heats the dish through without browning the surface away.
Ingredient Notes
- Zucchini, spiralised
- Three medium ones, salted and squeezed very dry. Three zucchini hold a surprising amount of water, and all of it would end up in the cream.
- Spaghetti
- Eight ounces dry, cooked two minutes short. It is part of the dish here, not a substitute for the zucchini — both are in the finished dish.
- Mozzarella, in two places
- Half a cup, split: half melts into the sauce and half is scattered lightly on top before the short bake.
- Kosher salt, divided
- A tablespoon in total. Most of it is drawing water out of the zucchini rather than seasoning the dish.
How to Make It
Oven on, spaghetti short of al dente
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook spaghetti until 2 minutes shy of al dente; drain.
Salt the zucchini and squeeze it dry
Salt the spiralized zucchini lightly, rest 10 minutes, then squeeze it very dry.
Build the Alfredo
Melt butter in a wide skillet, cook garlic 30 seconds, then add cream and simmer gently 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan, black pepper, and half the mozzarella.
Fold both noodles in, equally
Fold in the spaghetti and zucchini in roughly equal visible proportions so both remain identifiable. Transfer to a shallow baking dish.
Ten to twelve minutes, no browning
Scatter the remaining mozzarella lightly over the surface and bake 10 to 12 minutes, only until hot and bubbling at the edges; do not brown the entire top.
Parsley, and no meat
Finish with parsley. Keep the dish meat-free.
Two Noodles, Roughly Equal
This is called a zucchini noodle bake and it has wheat spaghetti in it too - the dish keeps BOTH. The bar below is what that looks like in the dish; shares are drawn from the measures for the bar only.
- Zucchini, spiralized (3 medium)3 medium
- Dry spaghetti8 oz
- Heavy cream1 1/2 cups
- Finely grated Parmesan3/4 cup
- Shredded mozzarella (half in, half on)1/2 cup
The two noodles are the point. Step 4 asks for them folded in ROUGHLY EQUAL VISIBLE PROPORTIONS so both remain identifiable - not zucchini standing in for pasta, and not pasta with a little zucchini through it. Everything else in the bar is sauce: 1 1/2 cups of cream reduced gently for 3 minutes, then Parmesan and half the mozzarella melted into it, which is what makes it thick, ivory and opaque with no tomato anywhere. The remaining mozzarella is scattered LIGHTLY on the surface, and the bake is 10 to 12 minutes only - hot and bubbling at the edges, with the top deliberately left unbrowned.
Success Tips
- Squeeze the zucchini harder than feels necessary — that water is the difference between a thick sauce and a thin one.
- Fold rather than stir; spiralised zucchini breaks easily.
- Take it out at twelve minutes even if the top is still pale. It is meant to be.
Serving Ideas
Six servings from a white oval baking dish, the spiralised green-edged zucchini mixed through the pale spaghetti in a thick ivory cream sauce flecked with parsley, browned only at the rim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this zucchini noodles or spaghetti?
Both, in roughly equal visible proportions. The recipe deliberately includes wheat spaghetti alongside the zucchini because both are in the finished dish.
Why doesn't the top brown?
Because step 5 says not to let it. Ten to twelve minutes at 375 heats it through and bubbles the edges; a browned surface would be a different dish.
Can I add chicken?
Step 6 keeps this dish meat-free.
