Traditional creamy pasta dishes are very high in fat and kilojoules. A healthy alternative to cream is reduced fat evaporated milk with a little added cornflour to thicken. By including a meat or meat alternative, this dish provides four of the five food groups.
Ingredients – serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
6 spring onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 short cut bacon rashers, chopped
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 medium zucchinis, sliced
1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
1 x 375g can reduced fat evaporated milk
3 tsp corn flour
250g dried pasta
Method
- Cook pasta according to packet directions. Strain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a fry pan. Add onion, garlic and bacon. Gently fry until bacon has browned.
- Add broccoli and zucchini and stir fry for 2 minutes then add the spinach and stir fry for a further 1 minute.
- Add ¾ of the can of evaporated milk and stir until it starts to simmer.
- Place the corn flour in a small bowl and gradually add the remaining evaporated milk whilst mixing until it forms a smooth paste.
- Add the corn flour mix to the simmering pan and stir continuously until the sauce thickens.
- Pour the cooked pasta into the pan and mix through.
- Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Option
Bacon can be replaced with chopped chicken thigh or salmon (canned, fresh or smoked). To make this dish vegetarian replace bacon with tofu.
