Zucchini Pasta with Crunchy Almond Topping

About

This low carb spaghetti is loaded with fats and flavor and a crispy almond topping. Our Keto pasta is prepared with zucchini noodles, a hint of lemon zest, aromatic garlic, salty olives, fragrant basil, and finished with a crumb of ground almonds, flaked almonds, grated parmesan cheese, and crispy red onion. This makes a delicious low carb lunch or light Keto dinner option.

Can I Use a Different Pasta?

We have used zucchini noodles to create our low carb pasta recipe. If preferred, you can swap the zucchini for an alternative Keto-friendly spaghetti. Zero carb miracle noodles or spaghetti squash would both make great replacements. Please be sure to adjust your cooking times and macros accordingly to account for any different ingredients used.

Can I Make This Vegan?

We have used grated Parmesan cheese to add both fats and flavor to our crispy crumb topping. If you would like to make the recipe vegan-friendly, you can simply swap the Parmesan for a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, adjusting quantities to taste. For vegetarian, you can swap the Parmesan for an alternative grated hard Italian cheese that is free from rennet.

Ingredients

10 olives pitted greek kalamata olives
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon basil
2 tbsp, ground almonds, raw
2 tbsp, grated parmesan cheese, dry (grated)
1 tbsp, sliced almonds, raw
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon lemon peel or zest raw
¼ small red onion
¼ teaspoon salt, sea salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
3 cup organic zucchini noodles

Instructions

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over a low/medium heat. Thinly slice the onion. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for a minute to soften. Add the ground almonds and flaked almonds to the skillet with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes or until the almonds are lightly browned and toasted and the onions are crisp at the edges.
Add the grated Parmesan to the skillet. Stir well to combine. Transfer to a bowl and set aside until ready to serve.
Crush the garlic. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan and add the garlic. Sweat gently for a minute until tender and fragrant. Add the zucchini, salt, pepper and lemon zest. Stir well to combine and cook for just a few minutes until the zucchini is just tender. Do not overcook, or the zucchini will become too soft.
Roughly chop the olives and basil. Add the olives and basil to the saucepan. Stir through the zucchini spaghetti to combine.
Divide the spaghetti between two serving bowls and drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Crumble the toasted almonds, onion, and Parmesan mixture over the pasta. Serve hot.