5 tips for Better Pasta
Sometimes it's the only thingI have the energy to make, and it's always going to be gobbled up so it's a shoo in for a tired Friday night, end of the weekend, or playdate for a big crew. But often it's not really giving kids much in the way of nutrients they need so badly.
So I'm sharing my top 5 tips for making pasta that bit more nutrient full and we can all whip it up and not feel like we're just filling them up with no added goodness.
- Switch Pastas - There are so many out there now that add a greater variety of minerals and nutrients to their diet than another plate of wheat. Try wholewheat, brown rice, quinoa, rice, corn and other varieties that are all over the supermarkets now.
- Al Dente - Cooking pasta until it's really soft means it is immediately absorbed into the blood stream and can cause more of a blood glucose spike, so keep it with a little bite to it and you automatically make it a lower glycemic index food.
- Combine it with vegetable noodles. Use a spiralizer, or ribbons with a potato peeler, and make half pasta, half vegetables, courgette, sweet potato, carrots, all work really well. Start by adding a few strands and work up to half/half. You'll be amazed to see them gobbling a whole courgette in one sitting!
- Use it as a vehicle for tons of vegetables and sauces. Pestos, greens, broccoli and cauliflower are some of the things we pulse up and add in to make it a really great way of upping the vitamin and mineral intake. See Creamy Broccoli Pasta
- Adding in protein, in a meat sauce or carbonara makes it more filling and higher in B Vitamins.
