What Can You Spiralize?

Have you been tempted to buy a spiralizer yet? It's the must-have kitchen gadget of 2015, seen everywhere from super healthy eating blogs Deliciously Ella and Hemsley + Hemsley to national papers like the Daily Mail.

The spiralizer is your answer to eating more veg (and fewer carbs), with courgetti - or courgette spaghetti - the newest thing to put your pasta sauce on. It's an intriguing contraption and pretty sizeable for a piece of home kitchen equipment, but we were fascinated. There was only one thing for it - we put the spiralizer to the test to see exactly what we could spiralize and what just won't work.

We borrowed some fruit and vegetables from the test kitchen fridges, including potatoes, beetroot, leek and even a red onion and prepared them by trimming the edges so they'd fit flush with the mechanism. Then we set up our spiralizer on the largest spiralizing setting, ready for our test.

Here goes...

Can you spiralize... sweet potato? Yes, the sweet potato tumbled onto the worktop in bright orange curls. How to eat it? Mix straight into a salad to make it more substantial, as you can eat sweet potato raw or cooked.

Can you spiralize... beetroot?Yes, but put a plate underneath to catch the beetroot curls to prevent staining. How to eat it? Toss in garlic butter and serve hot. Divine! Or serve in a salad with soft goats’ cheese and toasted walnuts.

Can you spiralize... potato?Yes. With a little trimming and shaping to make the potato fit the spiralizer, the potato made robust spirals that will hold up to cooking. How to eat it? Fry your potato spirals up with onion, garlic and a little seasoning for a quick and easy side dish.

Can you spiralize... leeks? No. After a promising start, the leek started to come apart and blocked the mechanism.

Can you spiralize... peppers? No. We admit we read somewhere that you shouldn't spiralise hollow vegetables, but we decided to try anyway. We failed.

Can you spiralize... red onion? Yes. We doubted at first but red onion was surprisingly easy to spiralize, coming out easily in delicate coils. How to eat it? Red onion spirals would make a lovely addition to a salad with it's pretty curls and extra texture. Try this tomato and red onion salad recipe

Can you spiralize... carrots? Yes, although we did end up with a carrot baton at the end once it had been whittled down. A chef’s perk. How to eat it? Add carrot spirals to a simple salad or coleslaw, or use the spiralizer instead of carrot peeler to bring this Thai chicken salad up to date with carrot spirals instead of ribbons.

Can you spiralize… aubergine? No, not at all. But at least we tried.

Can you spiralize… apples?Yes, apples spiralize perfectly on the larger setting.How to eat it? Melt butter and sugar to make a caramel and gently toss in the apples. Or they are delicious added to spiralised celeriac with grain mustard and mayo.

Can you spiralize… butternut squash? Yes, those orange curls were our favourite transformation. How to eat it? Serve with spaghetti or linguine. When the pasta is cooked, return to the pan, add the squash with some butter or olive oil, heat through for a few minutes and add a good handful of grated Parmesan.