Start to Keto Challenge: the quickest pasta puttanesca (Low Carb, Paleo)

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cooking pot or pan, spiralizer

Preparation: 15 minutes – Cooking time: 10 minutes – Keeps 3 days in the fridge

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Ingredients

1 onion
1 to 2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large handfuls cherry tomatoes
10 black olives, pitted
3 small zucchini
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Large handful fresh basil

We’re already in the third week of our ‘Start to Keto’ challenge! Today I’m treating you to a delicious pasta recipe from my new book 'Het Keto Plan': pasta puttanesca with sweet cherry tomatoes, black olives, capers and basil. It’s one of my go-to recipes on busy weekday nights when the last thing you want after a long day at work is cook. It’s incredibly easy and quick to prepare, with ingredients you can find in any supermarket or grocery store.

I’ve replaced the traditional wheat pasta with a lighter option: zucchini noodles. They’re one of my favorite low carb pasta alternatives because they’re really easy to digest, they have a neutral taste and they’re loaded with vitamin C too – one small zucchini contains almost half of your daily requirement!

Zucchini noodles are very easy to make if you have a spiralizer at home. You can serve them raw topped with warm puttanesca sauce if you like your pasta ‘al dente’, or you can lightly heat them for a few seconds.

Today I’m making a vegan version without anchovies but feel free to add those to the sauce as well; they are an excellent source of omega-3-fatty acids. You could also add a spoonful of seaweed flakes to create a similar flavor.

I hope you’ll enjoy this delicious ‘pasta presto’ :) Talk to you next week!

Love,
Julie

PS: Did you miss the previous videos from our Start to Keto challenge? You can find the recipe for sweet potato toast with avocado right HERE and the video for my favorite ‘brain fuel’ turmeric latte (+ more info on how to get started with intermittent fasting) right HERE.

The quickest pasta puttanesca (Low Carb, Paleo)

DIRECTIONS:

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat up some olive oil in a large frying pan or cooking pot, and bake the onion and garlic until soft and golden.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and roughly chop the pitted olives. Add both to the fried onion and garlic. Add some water or stock, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes on low heat.
Use a spiralizer to turn the zucchini into noodles.
Once the tomatoes are soft, add the drained capers and a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil to the sauce. Taste and add extra salt or pepper if needed. I also like to flavor the sauce with oregano and cinnamon.
Serve the puttanescasauce on top of the zucchini noodles, raw or slightly heated. Garnish with fresh basil.

JULIE’S TIPS & TRICKS:

Do you like spicy food? Add fresh or dried chili to the sauce.
If you don’t follow a fully plant-based diet, you could also add 50g of anchovies to the sauce. They’re really rich in omega-3-fatty acids that help to lower inflammation and fuel your brain.