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Spaghetti Bolognese – a classic favourite, but one we all know just can’t be all that healthy. In fact, it’s really quite calorific, often packed with salt and dripping in fat (and not necessarily the healthy kind). The ultimate word on all things calorific, MyFitnessPal suggests 35g of fat and 520 calories in a medium sized portion of spaghetti bolognese, and that’s without the industrially grated cheese on top! To access that classic taste and texture, whilst still being friendly to your quest for abs, here’s my healthier alternative.
Quorn! Once a bit weird, hippy and almost taboo, it’s now pretty mainstream as a healthy alternative to meat. But it’s not actually meat; it’s part of the fungi family. The main ingredient is ‘mycoprotein’, a fungal spore, grown by fermentation, much like the process used in the production of yoghurt, bread and beer. Quorn ‘mince’ is low in fat (1.9g per 100g) and high in protein (14.5g per 100g) & packed with dietary fibre (22% of your GDA in 100g). In short, it’s a lean alternative to minced beef, at just 90 calories per 100g.
Spaghetti is traditionally a fitness nightmare – high in simple carbs (32g per 100g), and densely calorific (165 calories per 100g). To combat this a bit, the spaghetti I decided to use was the BioFair ‘Organic Rice Quinoa Spaghetti’ which consist of 75% Rice flour and 25% quinoa flour. Making it dairy, gluten, nut and wheat free. Quinoa is a seed which provides all 9 essential amino acids (a complete protein – great for veggies), and having that in the spaghetti helps lift the protein content of the pasta component by 80%. The carbohydrates are sufficiently low-GI / slow-release so as to make this a great ingredient to complement your training regime, and a healthy lifestyle. I estimate that the plate you see in my picture above comes to c. 410 *healthier* calories. Enjoy! Faya x
INGREDIENTS: (serves 2)
1 yellow onion
1 fresh chilli
300 grams of quorn
1 chopped canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
250 grams of spaghetti
salt and pepper
HOW TO:
1. Peel and finely chop the onion. Fry it in butter without adding color. Add garlic and fresh chili
2. Add the quorn. Add the chopped tomatoes and dilute tit with water.
3. Add tomato paste and fresh herbs. Let the sauce simmer with the lid on 30-40 min. Season with salt.
4. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet.
5. Serve and enjoy!
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