Grain-free and low GI Italian cooking recipes?

Italian cooking recipes have great flavors, but what do you do when you are on a healthy good carbs diet without grain or dairy?

Start with grain-free pasta

Italian food is known for cooking with pasta.

So to transform an Italian cooking recipe, you mostly need to rethink pasta. Once you find a pasta substitute that fits the dish, the rest of the recipe can usually be mostly followed as is.

A single ingredient will not apply to every dish. Each dish must be analyzed. A substitutes should not contribute a strong taste itself. It should carry and allow the sauces to shine through.

I have found a few substitutes that work well...

Spaghetti squash noodles Spaghetti squash is an excellent substitutefor spaghetti and angel hair pasta.

Here's how to cook spaghetti squash noodles for grain-free Italian recipes...

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut squash in half lengthwise. Be careful and use a sharp, heavy knife. The skin is thick. Leave the seeds in.
Place the pieces cut-side down on a casserole dish.
Cover bottom of dish with water. About 1/2 inch will do.
Bake about one hour. Turn dish around halfway through to evenly cook both pieces. Squash pieces will feel soft when they are done.
Turn pieces cut side up and remove seeds. Use tongs or an oven mitt to not burn hands. Scoop out seeds with a spoon.
Use a fork to remove flesh. Flesh will come out in long strands.

You can now cover your spaghetti squash noodles with any of your favorite toppings...

Zucchini A great Italian ingredient already used in recipes.

I got this idea for spaghetti or linguini from Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America...

Simply take long strips of zucchini and summer squash using a canelle knife. Eat them raw, boil them briefly, or steam them.

Cut into thin slices and use as lasagna noodles.

Mushrooms Choose a mushroom that will go well with the dish...

Enoki has a mild flavor and works for elbow macaroni.
Chanterelles can be roasted and used for penne pasta.

Eggplant Cut into thin slices and use as lasagna noodles.

Add a traditional topping

You can now cover your spaghetti spaghetti substitute with any of these good-carbs healthy toppings...

Olive oil, olives, and parmesan cheese.
Spaghetti sauce.
Butter.
Your favorite tomato or cream sauce
Anything else you love!

Add dairy-free sauces and toppings

If you want to skip the dairy, here are some ideas...

Chicken stock thickened with potato puree. Find or make your own stock without sugar and low on fat and salt.
A tomato salad

Add a little protein on the side if you want. Prosciutto or another ham is a good choice.

Salad Recipes
Add a great salad to your Italian cooking recipes...