Pipe with Ricotta, Saffron and Spinach

The background of this low fat pasta recipes originates from Sicily and Sardinia in which tossing pasta in ricotta cheese is highly popular. It’s an easy to prepare pasta meal and the ingredients are simple in the sense that they are easily available in local stores. For best result, use fresh white ricotta.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 small pinch of saffron threads
• 300g/11oz/2 ¾ cups of dried pipe
• 300-350g/11-12oz fresh spinach, stalks removed
• Nutmeg
• 250g/9oz/generous 1 cup ricotta cheese
• Salt and ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Pecorino cheese, to serve

Step by Step Guides:
1. In a large pan or pot, pour roughly 2 to 3 ml of water. Add some salt and turn to high heat. When the water starts to boil, cook the pasta according to the packet instruction for the exact amount of time.

2. While waiting for the pasta to be cooked, in a separate bowl, soak the saffron threads in 60ml/4tbsp warm water.

3. At the same time, wash the spinach and put the leaves in a pan. Don’t use extra water for the spinach. Leave the spinach in the pan as it is. A little water on the leaves is fine.

4. After that, season the spinach with freshly grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

5. Cook the spinach with the pan covered. Turn to medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes. Occasionally open the cover and stir the spinach so that they are cooked evenly. When the spinach is tender enough, transfer it to a colander and press to extract as much liquid as possible. Chop the spinach into pieces when it’s dried enough.

6. Next is the ricotta cheese that needs to be placed in a large bowl for mixing purpose. Add in the saffron water to the ricotta cheese. Additionally, add the finely chopped spinach and toss the mixture so that they are mixed evenly. Pour in some pasta cooking water occasionally to loosen the mixture.

7. Season the ricotta cheese mixture well with salt and ground black pepper.

8. In the large bowl with the ricotta mixture, add the drained pasta into it. Toss the paste well so that all the ricotta mixture is mixed evenly with the pasta. If needed, add a little of the pasta cooking water for the pasta to be mixed well.

9. When the pasta is well mixed, serve immediately. Sprinkle with Pecorino to taste.

Nutritional information per portion: Energy 258kcal/1089kj; Protein 11.2g; Carbohydrate 39.2g of which 3.7g is sugar; Fat 7.2g of which 3.9g is saturated fat; Cholesterol 18mg; Calcium 98mg; Fiber 5.2g; Sodium 72mg.

Fettuccine with Broccoli and Spinach

The amount of fat for this recipe is roughly 9.6g per serving. Its low fat and low calorie content is extremely ideal for someone who is looking for a nutritious meal without the fat. People who is on diet can consider this low fat pasta recipe which is an excellent choice for lunch or dinner.

Moreover, this low fat pasta recipe is an excellent dish for vegetarian or someone who has decided to take a break from diet loaded with meat. It is nutritious and filling, and needs no accompaniment. Give it a try!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 2 heads broccoli
• 450g/1lb fresh spinach, stalks removed nutmeg
• 450g/1lb fresh or dried egg fettuccine
• About 45ml/3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
• Salk and ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Step by Step Guides:
1. First, put roughly one liter of clean water into a steamer. Turn to high heat until water boils.

2. When the water in the steamer is boiling, put the broccoli in the basket of the steamer. Cover the steamer and steam for roughly 7 to 8 minutes.

3. After that, add the spinach to the broccoli, cover and steam for 3-4 minutes or until both are tender.

4. When both vegetables are done or are tender enough, you can add some freshly grated nutmeg on top of them. Besides, to add a bit taste of salty and spicy, you can sprinkle them with some salt and pepper. Just a little bit of them should be fine.

5. When you feel that the taste of the vegetables is good enough, transfer them to a temporary plate or colander.

6. Without throwing away the existing water in the steamer, add more water to it for cooking the pasta. Follow the instruction laid out on the packet of the pasta for the exact amount of water and boiling time.

7. Add a bit of salt to the water in the steamer and only add the pasta to the pan when the water starts boiling. Cook the pasta according to the exact period on the packet.

8. Meanwhile, cut the cooked broccoli and spinach into pieces. They shouldn’t be cut too fine or else they will be too soft to eat.

9. When the pasta is done in the pan, drain them and put them on a separate plate or colander.

10. On a clean pan, put roughly 45ml or 3tbsp of oil. Turn to medium heat and then add the pasta and the chopped vegetables. Toss the mixture frequently and evenly in the pan so that none of them gets over cooked.

11. At the same time, sprinkle in the lemon juice and plenty of black pepper, then taste and add more lemon juice, oil, salt and nutmeg if you like.

12. For 3 to 4 minutes of cooking, the mixture should be ready to serve. Finally, sprinkled liberally with freshly grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Nutritional information per serving: Energy 504kcal/2130kj; Protein 22.2g; Carbohydrate 87.4g of which 7.3g is sugar; Fat 9.6g of which 1.4g is saturated fat; Cholesterol 0mg; Calcium 289mg; Fiber 8.9g; Sodium 171mg.

Macaroni with Broccoli and Cauliflower

This low fat pasta recipe is a super delicious dish that originates from south of Italy and is considered a traditional dish that uses simple and high quality ingredients. This easily prepared low fat pasta is full of flavor and is very filling despite having low fat content. If you leave out the anchovies, it can even be served to vegetarians. Give it a try!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 175g/6oz cauliflower florets, cut into small sprigs
• 175g/6oz broccoli florets, cut into small sprigs
• 350g/12oz/3 cups short-cut macaroni
• 45ml/3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 45ml/3tbsp pine nuts
• 1 sachet of saffron powder, dissolved in 15ml/1tbsp warm water
• 15-30ml/1-2tbsp raisins, to taste
• 30ml/2tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
• 4 bottles or canned anchovies in olive oil, drained and chopped, plus extra anchovies to serve
• Salt and ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Pecorino cheese, to serve

Step by Step Guides:
1. In a large pan or pot, cook the cauliflower sprigs with about 2 to 3 liters of water. Turn to high heat until water boils. Put in some salt and add the cauliflower only when the water starts to boil. Leave the cauliflower for about 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Next add the broccoli to the pan or pot that contains the salted boiling water. Together with the cauliflower, cook the broccoli for roughly 2 minutes.

3. The vegetable mixture should be tender by now and you will need to remove them from the pan and set them aside in a separate plate.

4. Reuse the vegetable cooking water in the pan or pot for cooking the macaroni. Add more water if there is not enough to cook the pasta. Bring the water to boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instruction until al dente or cooked just enough to retain a somewhat firm texture for the macaroni. When the pasta is done, drain them and set it aside or you can go ahead to do the following steps while waiting for the pasta to be cooked.

5. In a separate pan or large skillet, add in the olive oil. After that, add the finely chopped onion. Turn to medium or low heat for the onion. Brown the onion for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. In the same pan or skillet that has the brown onion, add the pine nuts, broccoli, cauliflower, saffron water, raisins, sun-dried tomato paste and some pasta cooking water from another pot until the mixture has the texture of a sauce. Finally, add plenty of pepper.

7. Stir the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes until you are satisfied with the texture. If not, add in more water. When it’s done, add the chopped anchovies to the sauce. Toss the anchovies for about 1 minute until they are warmed evenly. Don’t overcook the anchovies since they are already cooked.

8. Put the drained pasta into the vegetable mixture. Toss the pasta together with the sauce until they are evenly mixed. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste. Finally, add the freshly grated Pecorino cheese to the pasta.

9. This macaroni with broccoli and cauliflower low fat pasta recipe serves 4 people. If you like, add one or two whole anchovies to each serving.

Nutritional information per portion: Energy 422kcal/1784kj; Protein 15.4g; Carbohydrate 73.5g, of which 8.4g is sugar; Fat 9.4g of which 1.1g is saturated fat; Cholesterol 0mg; Calcium 64mg; Fiber 5.2g; Sodium 38mg.