If there’s one meal that’s guaranteed to keep all members of the family happy, it’s a pasta dish. Kid friendly, husband proof and quick and easy to prepare, it’s a winner, whichever way you look at it.
If you’re trying to lose weight and perhaps watch your carb intake (especially your simple carbs) though, you might think pasta should be off the menu. Luckily, there’s plenty of ways to prepare this family staple that are both tasty AND weight loss friendly, meaning pasta can stay on the menu while you see the kilograms fade away.
It all comes down to preparing the right kind of pasta dish and choosing the best and healthiest ingredients. Swapping regular, ‘white’ pasta for the wholemeal version, eliminating creamy sauces and upping the veggie content are all great ways to turn your typical pasta dish into a waistline friendly lunch or dinner.
This cheesy veggie pasta bake uses wholemeal penne (available in all major supermarkets), for low GI, energy creating bulk, low sodium tomato soup and skim milk for creamy texture and taste and plenty of fresh, yummy veggies, herbs and spices to add flavour, without extra calories.
The other important thing to keep an eye on when making and eating pasta is your portion size. We often serve ourselves huge portions at dinner time, sometimes double the size that we actually need! Try serving your pasta in a smaller sized bowl and topping it off with a salad or extra veggies. This way you’re still ‘seeing’ plenty of food, but it’s a much smaller serving size that if it were in a large bowl.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 375g wholemeal penne pasta
- 300g broccoli, cut into florets
- 300g cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 420g can of low sodium tomato soup
- 400g can of salt reduced diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups skim milk
- 1 cup low fat cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup plain wholemeal flour
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
Directions
- Cook pasta, according to packet instructions, in a large saucepan till tender
- Drain, place in an heat proof dish and cover to keep warm
- Place broccoli and cauliflower in a steaming basket or microwave tray and steam/microwave until tender.
- Drain and add to the warm pasta
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add diced onion
- Cook stirring until transparent
- Add crushed garlic and keep stirring
- Lower heat and sprinkle in spices/herbs and flour
- Cook over low heat for a couple of minutes, until fragrant
- Gradually stir in milk and soup
- Turn up the heat till mixture begins to boil and starts to thicken
- Pour in diced tomatoes and cook, stirring until mixture is heated through
- Pour tomato mixture over pasta and toss to combine
- Sprinkle with grated cheese
- Place under a preheated grill and grill till cheese melts
Makes 6 servings – Cal per serve – 450
