Low Calorie Creamy Mushroom & Bell Pepper Spaghetti Sauce
Home » COOK » Recipes » Pasta Recipes »Sometimes, when it comes to dinner, I have to shop from home, see what’s in the fridge/cupboards and use stuff up. That’s exactly what this dish was – using up some mushrooms and half a red bell pepper I’d had hanging out in the fridge for a little too long!
The best thing about this creamy mushroom and bell pepper sauce (that I served over spaghetti) is that it’s pretty low calorie – yet you wouldn’t think it, as it is creamy and decadent at the same time! The sauce works out to be about 220 calories, you then have to account for the amount of spaghetti/pasta you use. I use 40g for a serving, which is about 120 calories, that brings it to about 340 for the dish, throw on a little grated parm for another 40 calories, and well, a delish dish for under 400 calories :D
Creamy Mushroom & Bell Pepper Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 200 g pack of light soft cheese with garlic and herbs e.g., Philadelphia
- 200 g chestnut mushrooms sliced
- ½ red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1-2 tbsp skimmed milk
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh chives snipped
- one-calorie oil spray e.g., FryLight
To serve
- 80 g dry weight spaghetti
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat up a frying pan and then squirt with a couple of sprays of one-calorie oil spray. Add the onions, peppers and the garlic and gently fry until soft.
- Add a few more sprays of the oil spray and add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have softened and started to brown off.
- Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
- When the mushrooms are cooked through, add the soft cheese. Stir everything together, adding milk to loosen the sauce a little. Add 1 tbsp of parmesan and stir in. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
- Drain the spaghetti – reserving a little of the cooking liquid, which can be used to loosen up the sauce some more if you wish.
- Divide the spaghetti and sauce between two serving plates. Sprinkle with chives, more black pepper and ½ tbsp of parmesan.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Disclaimer: Please remember, I’m not a dietician, I follow and tweak recipes and work out the calorie content using resources online. I lose weight cooking my low calorie dishes, so am confident that I am keeping the calories nice and low. Always check with your doctor before going on any weight loss programme.
Ali-Cat
February 3, 2013 @ 11:32 am
That looks delicious! I’m making something similar later on in the week x
Michelle {The Purple Pumpkin Blog}
February 5, 2013 @ 7:22 pm
It was lush! x