Recipes: Healthy Ways to Eat Pasta

Feeding the Family

Recipes

Published on Tuesday, 09 April 2013 09:00

Last Updated on 11 May 2015

Monica Costa

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London Mums recommendations for easy and healthy ways to Eat Pasta.

Quality carbohydrates are an essential part of a balanced, healthful diet. If pasta is your go-to carb, there are ways to take advantage of this low-cost food to make it even healthier:

Choose organic pasta, rice noodles, bean thread noodles and noodles such as Japanese udon and soba, which are part whole wheat and buckwheat.

Cook pasta only until it is al dente (barely tender). When it is cooked this way, it achieves a lower glycemic index than fully cooked pasta because the pulverized grain comes apart slowly in the stomach. (Low-glycemic-load carbohydrates should be the bulk of your carbohydrate intake to help minimize rapid rises in blood glucose levels.)

Ideally you should skip the creamy sauces – they can provide unhealthy fats and more calories than traditional tomato-based sauces. But from time to time you can add cheese instead of cream.

Aim for two to three servings per week (one serving is equal to about 1/2 cup cooked pasta, which is far less than the amount Americans typically eat).

Here are our top pasta recipes! Try them and let us know your favourite one.

Rigatoni alla Vesuviana

Traffic Light Pasta

Moonbeam Pasta

Mini Meatball and Tomato Sauce Pasta

Meatballs with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Sauce

Meatball Pasta

Classic Carbonara – an Italian feast