Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Pasta with NO Pasta?

Pasta for me, as I am sure it is for so many, is a great weakness! If I lived someplace like Italy this would be no problem. The Italians can have pasta of some sort for every meal and it is acceptable along with drinking wine like its water...Maybe I should just move!

In an attempt to keep from exploding or becoming as big as a house,or having to move to another country I will try to put a limit on my pasta intake. This is very difficult and sad, but I have found a pretty good replacement, that is healthy, tasty and cheep!
Yellow Squash fettuccine With Bolognaise Sauce

With a vegetable peeler, peel off strips of squash the length of the squash and as even thickness as possible.
When you hit seeds, stop and go to another side.

Stack the strips and slice into thin strips the width of fettuccine.


Pile them in a bowl and pour the heated sauce over the raw squash.


The heat from the sauce cooks them to al dente texture!

I would Recommend using only thick hearty sauces for this. The squash does have a lot of water in it and will release it in the sauce.
Top with cheese and dig in! No guilt and after dinner you will not feel that sluggish over full feeling Pasta can give you.

Truth be told this was breakfast for the Wino...and since I do not live in Italy (yet!) no wine for now...

Let me know if you have found any other great substitutes for pasta and Bon Appetit!

4 comments:

  1. I am going to try this!! I actually make a zucchini alfredo that is similar - shred 2 medium zucchs or cut into thin strips and add some salt to extract some of the water. set aside for a few minutes while the water is sucked out. meanwhile, sautee some garlic and onions in a little oil, then squeeze the water out of the zucchini and add to the onions/garlic. cook for a few minutes to cook out more of the water, then add about 1/2c milk or half and half and about 4 oz of cream cheese, salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. let cook for a minute until cheese is melted and incorporated then had a big bunch of chopped fresh basil. simmer for a few and viola! you can serve it with pasta, but it is wonderful by itself. next time i make it i am going to add some shrimp and mushrooms - yum!

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  2. Brilliant, Wino! I adore pasta and would eat it for every meal if it wouldn't turn me into a fat cow. What a great alternative ... I can't wait to try this! Thank you!

    I'm also loving the sound of Dawn's zucchini fettuccine ... will be trying that too. Thanks, Dawn!

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  3. Dawn-I love it! I never thought about extracting the water with salt, definitly going to do that and the basil alfredo sauce sounds devine! Thank you!

    Diva- Fat cow is definitley what we want to avoid, its tough loving food this much though. Try this you will love it!

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  4. Spaghetti squash is a great sub. We have to try this soon.

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