A recipe selection and analysis of the 20 most popular UK recipes, from one of the UK’s most popular recipes website, demonstrated that the nutritional content of widely UK home cooked meals in UK did not meet UK dietary guidelines. This finding is reflected in a 2014 NDNS (National Diet Nutrition Survey) report, which stated that the UK general population were consuming too much saturated fat, free sugars, salt and not enough fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre (PHE, 2014). This is strong evidence that supports the excess of consumption of saturated fats by the UK public. Therefore, as part of my project to become a public health nutritionist, I have re-formulated the 20 recipes to meet UK dietary guidelines. Below is the original and reformulated spaghetti bolognese recipe. The UK’s number 1 recipe for home cooked meals. The recipe uses gluten free pasta, so if you are not intolerant to gluten, just swap for regular pasta instead.
Retailer’s Gluten-free Spaghetti Bolognese (Tesco, 2017n)
Label Values per Serving (4 servings):
745 kcal
22.4 g of fat
6.5 g of saturated fat
Ingredients:
2 x canned tomatoes
500g minced beef
400g gluten spaghetti
2 x brown onions
150g white mushrooms
125 ml red wine
4 tablespoons or 60g parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
6 pieces of sun dried tomatoes
4 garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
bunch of parsley
bunch of basil
Method:
Heat the oil in a large and sauté the onions and garlic, frying until softened.
Increase the heat and add the minced beef.
Fry it until it has browned, breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon.
Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced a little.
Reduce the temperature and stir in the mushrooms, tomatoes and sundried tomatoes.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour stirring from time to time.
At the end of cooking add the basil and parsley.
Cook the gluten free pasta according to the packet instructions.
Drain and divide between 4 warmed bowls.
Ladle over the cooked bolognese sauce and finish with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese (Tesco, 2017n)
Improved Gluten-free Spaghetti Bolognese
Label Values per Serving (4 servings):
673 kcal
14.9 g of fat
4.5 g of saturated fat
Ingredients:
2 x canned tomatoes
500g minced beef
400g gluten spaghetti
2 x brown onions
150g white mushrooms
125 ml red wine
4 tablespoons or 60g parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
6 pieces of sun dried tomatoes
4 garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
bunch of parsley
bunch of basil
Method:
Heat your non stick pan to a low medium heat and add 1 spray of olive oil.
Saute the onions and garlic, until softened.
Increase the heat to medium and add the minced beef.
Cook the beef until it has browned, breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon.
Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced a little.
Add the mushrooms and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring from time to time. At the end of cooking add the freshly chopped basil and parsley.
Cook the gluten free pasta according to the packet instructions.
Drain and divide between 4 pasta bowls. Ladle over the cooked bolognese sauce and sprinkle some 1/2 tsp of Parmesan cheese. Drizzle the flaxseed oil.
If you liked this improved recipe, you may be interested in our weight management 101 course. A 4-week course to help and empower you to change and improve your health through your diet. This course is aimed to anyone, without prior nutritional education, to learn more about evidenced-based diet and nutrition. As a bonus, participants will have a copy and access to our e-book of 20 UK popular recipes, modified to meet UK dietary guidelines. Below is a preview of the recipe in the e-book.
References:
PHE (2014) New National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows UK population is eating too much sugar, saturated fat and salt, GOV.UK, Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-shows-uk-population-is-eating-too-much-sugar-saturated-fat-and-salt [accessed 13 May 2017]
Tesco (2017n) Gluten-free spaghetti Bolognese recipe, Tesco Real Food,
Available from https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/gluten-free-spaghetti-bolognese.html#1KowKlI6LWXo5JOR.99 [accessed 15 May 2017]
Related Article:
You Can’t Outrun A Bad Diet
The post A Low Fat Version of the UK’s #1 Recipe for Home Cooked Meals: Spaghetti Bolognese appeared first on Weight Loss Clinic in London UK | Harley Street Bariatrics.