Crispy Spaghetti with Zucchini and Herbs

This is by far one of the yummiest things I've ever made. And - I'll be honest - I might try a lot of recipes, but I by no means make things you'd call "yummy." "Very good," and, "satisfying," maybe; but never "yummy." Maybe that has something to do with the fact that this is one recipe I actually follow to the letter. No, that's probably un-related.

While allrecipes.com is my go-to when I'm in search of something, Woman's Day magazine is my favorite go-to to stumble on recipes and meal ideas. I never thought the day would come, but I out-grew Cosmo, so I usually pick up Woman's Day for the articles and come away with a lot more.

Along with the Cheesy Chicken Taquitos, Crispy Spaghetti with Zucchini and Herbs is an exercise in using up leftovers. As my mom mentioned as she copied down the recipe, good ideas for leftover spaghetti noodles are few and far between.

If you don't happen to have the September 2012 issue of Woman's Day lying around (I did; you wouldn't believe the size of my magazine collection), you can find the recipe here. Or - you know - just a few lines down right here...

1 Tbs olive oil (I use Extra Virgin, natch) to heat the pan to cook the onion mixture
2 Tbs olive oil to heat the pan to cook each side of the spaghetti mixture
1 small onion chopped (this is the only ingredient I eye-ball because I have no idea what constitutes as a "small onion")
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Garlic clove, chopped
4 cups cooked, cold spaghetti
1 cup zucchini, shredded
3/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

As per the instructions, I heated the 1 Tbs of olive oil in the pan and cooked the onions - covered - with the salt and pepper. I accidentally threw the garlic in with the onion instead of cooking the onions for 6-8 minutes *then* throwing in the garlic for an additional minute, as the instructions instruct. I wasn't able to tell a huge difference in the final product, maybe it just makes the dish more garlic-y.

Then I tossed the cooked onion and garlic with the spaghetti, zucchini, parsley, and cheese while 1 Tbs of oil heated in a medium-sized skillet. Once the underside was brown, I inverted it onto a piece of parchment paper. Then I heated another 1 Tbs of oil in the pan and slid the spaghetti back into the pan until the other side was a nice, golden brown. The recipe estimates about 8-10 minutes on the first side, then 6-8 minutes on the other side, but since my stove decides on its own how and how long to cook things, I just keep an eye on it.

When I first made this dish - this, here, is my second rodeo - I wrongly concluded that I was supposed to cook a little bit of the mixture at a time, a la pancakes. They were still good, but a tad crispier than we would have liked. I just blamed that on the weird slant to my stove. In reality, you're supposed to put the entire mixture in the pan so it makes a sort of pie that you slice up and serve, hence the picture of a pie-slice in the magazine. You have no idea how hard I tried to make a freakin' triangle in the pan when I first made these.

Cooking the entire mixture at once was definitely an improvement and made the meal a little hardier. Of course, my husband mentioned how good it would be with sausage in it. Men.

(Still not a freakin' triangle, but a vast improvement.)