Monday 27 August 2007

Wot, no pasta?

I do like a nice Bolognese sauce – I use Quorn mince as a base, with beef broth to add flavour, garlic, tomatoes, onions, peppers and herbs. Even my almost obligate carnivore other half likes it! But what about the pasta? I have been using wholewheat in small amounts but it doesn’t give the nutritional ‘bang for the buck’ as they say. I have been experimenting with substitutes – one is finely shredded lettuce, which does give nice long thin threads for the sauce to cling to and a crunchy freshness. The other idea is courgettes - (zucchini in the USA). I cut them very thin lengthways and steam in the microwave till tender. A nice alternative to penne is mushrooms sliced quite chunkily. Shirataki noodles are quite good and almost calorie free but are best in wet dishes like soups. I was wondering if anyone had any better ideas?

3 comments:

Deborah said...

Spaghetti Squash? I don't know where you are so I don't know what's available, but this is what I use as a substitute for pasta.
;-D

Linda said...

Good idea, Deborah. I have only ever eaten it once - I'm in London and we don't have the variety of veg seen in the US, but a friend of mine once grew some and gave me one, and it was very good. Must look around and see if I can find some!

Linda

Robin said...

I can't say I've ever tried it but I've always wondered whether enoki mushrooms would work well as a substitute for noodles.
R