If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, a red-hot item on your cheat list is undoubtedly pasta. Especially creamy pasta.

It’s satisfyingly calorific, quick to cook and the surest way to blow out any lean ambitions – until now. This recipe is loaded with all the good fats you need to get lean but can be cooked to help bulk you up or reveal your abs.

While the sauce remains the same for either goal, it’s the base that differs. To bulk up you can use traditional wholemeal pasta and to slim down you’ll use faux pasta in the form of zucchini strips – an impasta, so to speak. They’ve every bit as rewarding as regular pasta but are loaded with more nutrients than the regular stuff. That’s your cue to start the fork twirling with weight loss impunity.

 

Ingredients

Sauce:

(2 cups or 8 servings of ¼-cup servings):

• 3 large avocados

• 1 cup low sodium chicken (or vegetable) stock

• 3 heaping tablespoons olive oil (or avocado oil)

• 1 garlic clove (or more if desired)

• Juice from 3 large lemons

• One heaped tablespoon of fresh peas

• Fresh chopped parsley to taste

 

Pasta:

Bulk

• Use wheat pasta. For more heart-healthy fats add more avocado oil or coconut milk.

• If you want a boost of protein, add 2% Greek yogurt – 1 cup has about 22g.

• To achieve extra creaminess, add canned coconut milk (skim the fat at the top), and then flavor the sauce with more lemon, sea salt, pepper and parsley to taste.

Slim

• Use shred zoodles, which are zucchini noodles.

• For a leaner sauce, swap out 1 tablespoon of olive oil for juice from 1 lemon or chicken stock.

 

Method

1: Prepare the pasta. If you’re looking for a lower-carb alternative, shred the zucchini with a spiralizer or julienne peeler to make raw noodles.

2: Toss all the ingredients for the sauce into a food processor and blend until smooth. If you desire a thinner pasta sauce, add lemon juice or chicken stock. Season to taste according to your preferences (and dietary needs).

3: Add your protein. This pasta sauce pairs well with pretty much anything, but my go-to is always grilled chicken.

 

Find nutrition tips and meal ideas to help you maintain your gains and more in every issue of TRAIN magazine.