Healthy Spaghetti?

BeachIron

I live in Italy and make pasta every day for my family. I make all kinds but learned a basic recipe from my mother-in-law from south Italy--Puglia. I use Barilla alot, or other hard duram grain. The sauce is as follows--Put extra vergin olive oil in a saucepan with a large peeled garlic clove. Brown the clove lightly and then discard. Add canned Roma tomatos, with salt and pepper. Cook about 15 mins to half an hour depending on how you like your tomatoes. Add fresh basil and toss with the pasta--cooked strictly "al dent"--that means no overcooking glue like pasta. Put in your plate add freshly grated parmesean Reggiano(no substitutions here!), and pour more sauce on top. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Healthier than this it doesn't get.

Yay!!!! Real food! :drinker:

ndj1979

I live in Italy and make pasta every day for my family. I make all kinds but learned a basic recipe from my mother-in-law from south Italy--Puglia. I use Barilla alot, or other hard duram grain. The sauce is as follows--Put extra vergin olive oil in a saucepan with a large peeled garlic clove. Brown the clove lightly and then discard. Add canned Roma tomatos, with salt and pepper. Cook about 15 mins to half an hour depending on how you like your tomatoes. Add fresh basil and toss with the pasta--cooked strictly "al dent"--that means no overcooking glue like pasta. Put in your plate add freshly grated parmesean Reggiano(no substitutions here!), and pour more sauce on top. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Healthier than this it doesn't get.

this times a million

Myhaloslipped

For the sake of all that is holy in this world ditch the whole wheat spaghetti noodles. They're crap. Some things taste great with whole wheat, spaghetti noodles not so much.

Then add some ground beef and sauce to real noodles. Good to go.

I made a lasagna with whole wheat noodles. People who tried it were extremely unamused! :noway:

tigersword

Is there unhealthy Spaghetti?

Exactly this. What's wrong with spaghetti? Just don't eat the whole pound at once. Or do eat the whole pound at once, just track it...

changing4life

I have a julienne peeler and I peel zucchini and use that as spaghetti. Or you can steam a bag of green beans and put the meat sauce over the green beans.

SailorKnightWing

Using half regular spaghetti and half shredded zucchini lets you bulk up your portion without adding many calories or greatly changing the texture, and it tastes great in most applications since it's used so widely in Italian recipes anyway.

ndj1979

Using half regular spaghetti and half shredded zucchini lets you bulk up your portion without adding many calories or greatly changing the texture, and it tastes great in most applications since it's used so widely in Italian recipes anyway.

< italian and never heard of this….

snowflake954

Not in Italy honey!!!!!!!!

tigersword

Using half regular spaghetti and half shredded zucchini lets you bulk up your portion without adding many calories or greatly changing the texture, and it tastes great in most applications since it's used so widely in Italian recipes anyway.

< italian and never heard of this….

Maybe she thinks all Italian recipes are pasta primavera?

ndj1979

Using half regular spaghetti and half shredded zucchini lets you bulk up your portion without adding many calories or greatly changing the texture, and it tastes great in most applications since it's used so widely in Italian recipes anyway.

< italian and never heard of this….

Maybe she thinks all Italian recipes are pasta primavera?

IDK …maybe she got it from olive garden..everyone knows they are authentic italian...

tigersword

I'm sorry I just saw this!

It's called Pasta Zero. It's found in the produce section and it's made by Nasoya. There are LITERALLY 40 calories in a bag (it comes in liquid), 4 carbs, vitamins, gluten free, fat free....yada yada. The noodles are made with yam root, so when you open them you will notice a funky smell. As soon as you rinse them, it's gone and they just turn into really fabulous, versatile noodles. No boiling, I just toss them into a bunch of veggies and tomatoes and spices. Fast, healthy, easy, omg! Seriously, I love them. They have more of an al dente texture as well, so not like mushy pasta. You can use them alone like I do, or mix them with your other spaghetti noodles to make a much healthier alternative. Give em a try!

If pasta is mushy it's because you're cooking it wrong. Real pasta has a solid bite to it.

vjohn04

what's unhealthy about spaghetti?

cwolfman13

There is nothing inherently unhealthy about spaghetti. Tomato sauces are very good for you and packed with nutrients and high in lycopene (good for the ticker)...if you do a bolognese all you're talking about is some meat (protein) and I usually throw in some onion and bell pepper when I make my own (more veg)...and pasta (carbs aren't the devil)

ndj1979

what's unhealthy about spaghetti?

that question has been posed about ten times and the pasta nay sayers have yet to answer…my guess is that it has - gasp - carbs...

gamerkiwi

what's unhealthy about spaghetti?

It's high in carbs, calories, and has little actual nutrition. Plus, when you eat it, it's often mixed with other unhealthy things, like sugary/fatty sauces, excessive cheese, and fatty meats. And it's easy to overeat.

It's not necessarily "unhealthy", but there are way better options.

westendcurls

I imagine your looking for low calorie spaghetti. you could try spaghetti squash for noodles and ground turkey for the meat. I know I love it so do my 5 and 41 year old boys.

ndj1979

what's unhealthy about spaghetti?

It's high in carbs, calories, and has little actual nutrition. Plus, when you eat it, it's often mixed with other unhealthy things, like sugary/fatty sauces, excessive cheese, and fatty meats. And it's easy to overeat.

It's not necessarily "unhealthy", but there are way better options.

LOL and don't forget, pasta was the third shooter on the grassy knoll….

so if you pasta with a plain red sauce made from fresh tomatoes that is not healthy?

congrats, this is probably the most uninformed post I have seen in a while…

and I love how you just stereotype anyone that eats pasta as loading it up with meat, cheese, and anything else deemed unhealthy …the whole country of Italy would disagree with your assertion.

snowflake954

It might be interesting to note that my husband, who has never eaten meat, and eats pasta everyday is very thin. Also, how do you explain that the Italians, who eat carbs--pasta, pizza etc. are alot thinner as a people than Americans? They actually started gaining weight after the war when meat became something they ate more frequently. We go to our favorite restaurants in Rome and I watch these skinny Italians with a huge pizza or plate of pasta in front of them.

BeachIron

what's unhealthy about spaghetti?

It's high in carbs, calories, and has little actual nutrition. Plus, when you eat it, it's often mixed with other unhealthy things, like sugary/fatty sauces, excessive cheese, and fatty meats. And it's easy to overeat.

It's not necessarily "unhealthy", but there are way better options.

LOL and don't forget, pasta was the third shooter on the grassy knoll….

so if you pasta with a plain red sauce made from fresh tomatoes that is not healthy?

congrats, this is probably the most uninformed post I have seen in a while…

and I love how you just stereotype anyone that eats pasta as loading it up with meat, cheese, and anything else deemed unhealthy …the whole country of Italy would disagree with your assertion.

Grains don't have no stink'n nutrition.

That's why civilization died out during the agricultural revolution.

Oh. Wait . . .

ldrosophila

If you have a pasta maker you could make your own, but what I would do is a nice semolina flour spaghetti and make your own marinara I cheat and use canned tomatoes, but you could use fresh. Lots of basil and garlic with oregano and and get a beautiful parmesan reggiano cheese. I'm not a fan of red wine, but I would like a nice Chablis or chardonnay with mine. Measure out your portion maybe 8oz and enjoy your healthy spaghetti. Oh and nice salad with kalamata olives and a vinaigrette about 2-4oz of a nice loaf of garlic bread! Cant forget that!