Mandoline melody

Luckily for you, I am not in the mood to sing or exert any musical talent that I don't have! Not that it would really matter for you anyway as I have not yet become acquainted with podcasts and other blog fancy tricks...

No, today, I would like to introduce you to one of my best friends in the kitchen: my mandoline...
[nb - can't put my hands on my camera cable and the card transfer doesn't work properly, so no paparazzi picture of my mandoline today, you'll have to wait a bit...]

I love vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, zucchinis, oignons, paprikas... well, to sum up: I love vegetables and I mostly like them cooked in thin slices, al dente or in salads. I also love to cook my fish on the grill or "en papillote" with a few extra thin slices of lemon that will caramelise impregneted with the fish juices, mmmm! Unfortunately, I do not yet fully master the art of handling a knife in the japanese style and there's not a square centimeter left in my kitchen for a fancy food processor. Yet, I am blessed, I have my mandoline! I don't really know what the exact term is in english or in dutch, if you know, feel free to let me know!

Now, if you've got one, wether it's old and sentimental, inherited from your grandma or cheap, once bought on a small french market in the south of france during your holidays, or fancy, in shiny inox from your favourite cookshop, or asian style in a cheesy colour with a lot of chinese or japanese characters on the box (that's mine)... here's one great vegetable for you to try and play the mandoline....

Zucchini Tagliatelles

serves 2. prep: 5 min cook: 5 min

Ingredients:
2 zucchinis (or if you live like me in the netherlands where they worship huge monster size vegetables... the smallest 'monster courgette' you can find... )
1 small clove of garlic
a handfull fresh basil
1 Tsp freshly grated parmeggiano
1 Tsp roasted pinenuts
2 Tsp fragrant virgin olive oil
sea salt, pepper

Wash the zucchinis and chop the ends. Take your magic mandoline, tune the spacing in order to obtain slices of ~2mm and use it to slice the zucchinis in the length (not your fingers!)... 30s later, rince the mandoline with fresh water, put it to dry, smile! you're almost done. Now, if you have a little a bit of time before the dinner (this dish should be finalized just before serving), season the zucchini tagliatelles with sea salt and leave to drain in a clean cloth or some kitchen paper. If not, just go ahead with the recipe... In a large pan on high fire, add a Tsp of olive oil, add the zucchinis, season with salt (if not done already) and pepper, shake your pan a little, let's say 2 to 3 minutes not more. Take out of the fire, add the basil pressed garlic clove, pinenuts, parmeggiano and one last tablespoon of olive oil, mix a bit. You're done! Now hurry to the table, take a deep breath to enjoy the fragrances and ... eat while it's hot!

Bon appetit!

Nb. No need to mention that you can of course do this dish without a mandoline... Use a sharp knife, beware of your fingers.