#italiancooking Archives - The Fat Foodie

Courgetti with Meatballs by The Fat Foodie

I missed the whole Spiralizer fad when it came around a while ago. I mean, I was aware of it, but I just couldn’t see how shaping a vegetable to resemble something else could possibly be that tasty in the grand scheme of things. Spaghetti’s cheap enough to buy (even the gluten-free stuff’s not that expensive nowadays) so why would I feel the need to substitute it with a vegetable? However, not too long ago I picked up a Spiralizer dirt cheap and it’s been sitting in one of my kitchen cupboards ever since. So, when I spotted it lurking at the back of the cupboard the other day I figured I should give it a whirl.

I tend to buy courgettes quite frequently so I’m pretty much guaranteed to always have some in the fridge and I reasoned that they’d be an ideal vegetable to try out the Spiralizer with. I also had a jar of sundried tomato pesto in the cupboard and a packet of sausages in the fridge so it stood to reason that courgetti with pesto and meatballs would be a good meal for that evening.

I must admit, I was really sceptical as to whether the courgetti would be tasty because courgettes aren’t exactly known for naturally brimming over with flavour anyway, but oh my goodness, when I tasted the finished meal I realised that they were actually delicious! They were also very filling and made a very substantial meal.

All I’d done was fry balls of sausagemeat in a large frying pan before adding the courgetti and cooking until it became soft and then adding the pesto and stirring it through it. It was as simple as that, but good grief, it was outstanding. The courgette spaghetti added not only a lovely fresh flavour to the meal, but a delightful and substantial texture too. Whereas normal spaghetti is fairly flavourless and bulky, the courgetti really added an element of interest to the dish and complemented the sausage meatballs really well.

Courgetti with meatballs might sound quite plain and it might not entice you into purchasing a Spiralizer for yourself, but chances are quite a few of you already own one and I’d seriously encourage you to try this recipe. It makes a plateful of soft, fresh courgetti that’s lightly coated in sweet sundried tomato pesto and is dotted with tasty little balls of sausagemeat. Sadly, I’ve realised that Spiralizing is a fad I should have tried a long time ago.

Ingredients:

2 large courgettes (no more than 240g in total of spiralized courgette)

1 jar of red pesto (I used dairy-free)

1 pack of gluten-free sausages

Method:

Remove the sausages from their casings and form small meatballs with them. Fry them in a frying pan until cooked.

While the meatballs are cooking Spiralize the courgettes.

Freshly Spiralized Courgetti

Once the meatballs are cooked add the courgetti and fry until just soft.

Courgetti with Meatballs by The Fat Foodie

Stir the red pesto through the courgetti and serve.

Courgetti with Meatballs by The Fat Foodie

<br />

Lasagne

In my opinion, one of the best meals to come out of Italy is lasagne. There’s nothing quite like a hearty, beefy, cheesy pasta dish to fill the tummy. Its multi-layers allow for forkfulls of rich, tomatoey mince to meld with thick, unctious cheese sauce, with the occasional surprise of a nice piece of crispy toasted melted cheese. However, for all that lasagnes are traditionally very onion, garlic and cheese based, it’s actually very easy to make a low FODMAP lasagne which is just as tasty as a normal version.

Lasagnes are incredibly easy to make and the beauty of making your own instead of buying one is that you can alter the ingredients as you see fit, ensuring you have a pasta dish that suits your own taste.

I like my low FODMAP lasagne to have plenty of herbs in it and for the sauces to be thick enough for it to cut into slices without it completely falling apart, but other people prefer theirs to be much more liquid so that they can use good crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Either way, it’s a rewarding meal that will feed lots of people. It will also reap plenty of leftovers which will keep in the fridge for a couple of days and it’ll freeze beautifully too, leaving your freezer stocked with low FODMAP ready meals of the best (and tastiest) quality.

Ingredients:

500g beef mince

1 tsp asafoetida powder

2 tbsps olive oil

6-8 gluten-free lasagne sheets

1 tbsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

100g oyster mushrooms (chopped)

50g pitted black olives (chopped)

360g of tinned chopped tomatoes

1 vegetable stock cube

100ml of water

Dairy-free cheese sauce mix (or normal, if tolerated)

1/2 a pint of rice milk

160g grated cheddar (or non-dairy version)

Method:

Put the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the mince and asafoetida powder. Fry until the meat is cooked through.

Add in the oregano, salt, olives and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are soft.

Add the chopped tomatoes, crumble the stock cube into the pan and stir through. If the mix is very thick then add a bit of water, but if you’re happy with the consistency then leave it as it is.

Cook the mix for a little while longer over a low heat.

In the meantime, prepare the cheese sauce as instructed on the packet.

To build the lasagne:

Put a layer of tomato mince in a square or rectangular casserole dish, followed by a thin layer of cheese sauce and place lasagne sheets on top.

Repeat until all of the ingredients are used up, reserving a bit of cheese sauce for the top.

Scatter grated cheese all over the top of the lasagne and grind black pepper over it.

Bake in the oven for 40-50 mins, or until the lasagne sheets are soft and the grated cheese is golden brown and bubbling.

Serve with crusty bread, baguettes or salad. Or all of the above, because why not?

Save

Save<br />

The Fat Foodie

Making Low FODMAP Food Good!

Tag: #italiancooking

Courgetti with Meatballs (Serves 4)

Low FODMAP Lasagne (serves 4-6)