Dreamfields Pasta Review and Giveaway

Who doesn’t love pasta? It’s easy to make, hard to screw up and always a nice comfort food. The problem is it’s high carbohydrates which in excess, turn into fat if not burned off, which is likely if you have pasta for dinner. I have tried just about everything to combat this issue – tofu noodles, miracles noodles, julienned zucchini, nothing seemed to measure up. That’s why when Dreamfields contacted me to review their low carb pasta, it felt like the angles had heard my cries! Ok, that might be a bit dramatic but, hey, if the shoe fits 🙂

Stats:

• Only 5 grams of (digestible) carbs per serving which lessens post-meal blood glucose rise as compared to regular pasta.
• Contains 5 grams of fiber per serving
• Contains insulin which is ideal for those with diabetes but also helps with digestive health, satiety and calcium absorption.
• Maintains the same taste and texture as traditional pasta

Baked Veggie Ziti

Vegetable Lasagna Rolls

Dreamfields was kind enough to offer one lucky Dishin’ About Nutrition reader the same package of pasta that I received. There are four ways to enter, leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. Comment below telling me which pasta dish you would try first if you won
2. Tweet about this giveaway. (sample tweet: Enter @DishNutrish’s giveaway to win a huge box of low-carb @HealthyPasta! http://wp.me/p19QAn-zQ)
3. Add me to your blogroll
4. Blog about this giveaway

This winner will be announced on Friday (8/5/11) so get your votes in before then! Good luck!

Vegetable Lasagna Rolls (Vegetarian)

I love this recipe because it looks complicated but it’s so easy to make. Come back Monday for a review and giveaway opportunity for the low carb pasta I used in this recipe! Have a great weekend! 🙂

Ingredients

• Onions, thinly sliced
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 medium eggplant, cut into small pieces
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 box of Dreamfields lasagna noodles
• ricotta cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• 3 cups of your choice of tomato sauce
• Olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or a heaping handful of fresh basil)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• Optional: sauteed spinach
• Tomato sauce – you can use your own or use the recipe below

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Start cooking pasta noodles according to directions on box. When you drain and rinse be sure to add some oil so they don’t stick together.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the onions, garlic, basil and some S&P. Saute until tender (about 10 minutes or until browned) then add carrots, eggplant, and peppers and saute another 10-15 minutes. Add spinach if using cook for another 5 minutes or so. (I didn’t add spinach but I wish I had)

4. Add cheese and stir until thoroughly mixed.

5. Coat baking dish with non-stick spray and spread a cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Take one lasagna sheet and add a sizable dollop of the veggie/cheese mixture, then roll up into a roll. My dollop was about 1/2 cup, give or take. Place the roll seem-side down in the baking dish on top of the tomato sauce. Repeat until baking dish is full then add remaining tomato sauce on top of rolls.

5. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour. Remove the foil and continue baking until browned and bubbling, about 10-15 minutes. Remove and let sit for a few minutes, then serve. You can add some parmesan cheese on top if desired….which I desired!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of low sodium chicken or veggie broth (you can also use water if you don’t have broth)
• 2 tablespoon of fresh chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon of oregano

Directions

Heat oil in  a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots, garlic and salt and saute for about a minute. Add tomatoes and broth (or water). Bring to a simmer, then decrease heat to low and simmer stirring frequently until it reaches desired consistency. I like mine a bit thinker so out of lack of patience I increased the heat to a gentle boil to thicken it up a bit. Finally, add basil and oregano, stir and remove from heat.