Cheesy Zucchini Noodles with Corn & Red Peppers

By á-48467

The house smelled awesome enough to get everyone stopping by the kitchen to ask what was for supper. And you know how much we love our meat around here. Well, this was all I served at our family meal, with glasses of cold milk. And I received not one complaint. Only requests for more. Everyone loved this cheese-filled dish of end-of-summer vegetable yum. AND. The leftovers the following day weren’t even watery. Woohoo!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 4 large zucchini)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large ears sweet corn, kernels cut from the cob
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon half and half
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 12 ounces Mexican cheese blend, shredded, divided
• Freshly ground black pepper

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 55mins
Adapted from afarmgirlsdabbles.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 9-inch pan and set aside.

Cut off the ends of the zucchini and then cut each one's length in half (this makes the noodles a bit more manageable, not so long). Using a vegetable spiralizer, make zucchini noodles, catching the noodles with a large pan. Spread the noodles out on the pan and then sprinkle evenly with the salt. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the zucchini bake.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, dry roast the diced pepper and onion. Do not add oil or butter to the pan. Spread the pepper and onion evenly in the pan and let sit for a few minutes without stirring. You want to achieve some char. Then stir and let sit again, for about 7 minutes total, or until pepper and onion are softened and lightly charred. Transfer to a very large bowl. Then add the garlic and corn kernels to the same skillet. Dry roast these in the same manner, for about 5 minutes total. Remove to the very large bowl and add the chopped parsley.

Place a large colander inside another bowl or pan and add the zucchini to the colander. Press on the zucchini with a large wooden spoon or spatula (or your hands) to push moisture out of the zucchini. After you have pressed out as much as you can, take a few paper towels and press on the zucchini to remove even more of the moisture. The moisture doesn't have to be completely removed, but you do want to make a good effort to remove as much as you can. Add the zucchini noodles to the very large bowl. Fold to incorporate all the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, half and half, and butter. Stir in the Parmesan and 8 ounces of the shredded Mexican cheese. Pour over the vegetable mixture in the very large bowl and fold to combine thoroughly. Add zucchini mixture to your prepared pan, spreading it out evenly. Then add the remaining 4 ounces of cheese to the top, leaving an inch or two around the edges without cheese. Sprinkle with black pepper. Very lightly spray 1 side of a piece of foil with nonstick spray and loosely tent the pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Then turn on the broiler and move the pan so that the cheese is about 6" below the broiler. Broil until the bake is firmed up and the cheese is blistered. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.