This low FODMAP pasta dish makes a delicious, quick and easy lunch or light meal. The idea was inspired by a recipe for broccoli and anchovy orecchiette from an early Jamie Oliver book, it’s a meal that’s often on the menu in my house as the kids love it. To make it low FODMAP I use gluten free pasta and I’ll be honest – I’ve made quite a few mistakes in the past when cooking this type of pasta. I’ve overcooked it and turned it to mush. I’ve mixed two different brands of pasta not realising one had a 14 minute cooking time while the other was 8 minutes (half the pasta was rock hard). My latest disaster was putting the pasta into a small pan then adding boiling water to it, all the pasta stuck together and was pretty much inedible. Please learn from my mistakes and make sure you use a large pan of boiling water, put the pasta in and give it a good stir. Continue to stir several times during cooking. Check the recommended cooking time on the packet and set a timer – it’s so easy to overcook if you forget about it. I have a preference for brown rice pasta over the corn and rice mix more commonly found in supermarkets so I’d recommend looking out for it. I think it tastes nicer and is higher in fibre too.
For more vegetarian inspiration, have a look through my low FODMAP vegetarian recipes.
- A handful of pine nuts
- 180g gluten free pasta
- 1 Tablespoon garlic flavoured olive oil plus a little extra to finish
- 5 anchovy fillets
- A small pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 1 medium courgette, cut into short sticks
- A pinch of ground black pepper
- A handful of grated parmesan cheese
- Heat a medium frying pan and dry toast the pine nuts, tossing them for about a minute until they start to brown then transfer to a plate and set aside
- Put the pasta in large pan of boiling water and cook according to the instructions on the packet, stirring it several times during cooking
- Meanwhile, place the frying pan back on a medium heat and add the garlic oil, anchovies and pinch of dried chilli flakes and use a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies
- Add the courgette to the frying pan and stir fry for a few minutes until the courgette starts to soften
- Drain the pasta and reserve approximately 50ml of the cooking water
- Remove the frying pan from the heat and add the pasta along with the reserved cooking water and mix together then stir though half the parmesan
- Serve on warmed plates and finish with the remaining parmesan, pine nuts and a little drizzle of garlic oil
Just tried this one – really simple and tasty! We didn’t use the anchovies, and put chilli oil in instead of flakes… really good – thanks Louisa!
Hi Angela, that’s great, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. I cook the broccoli version of this all the time, everybody loves it. Sometimes the easy things are the best. I’ve spotted a few other vegetarian versions of this recipe recently too – one was basically the same without the anchovies but with a dollop of double cream and plenty parmesan. The other recipe omitted the anchovies but had mint leaves, a squeeze of lemon juice and finely grated courgette. Hope you managed to do a better job of cooking the gluten free pasta than me!
Just cooked this for a quick evening meal, using a finely chopped chilli as didn’t have flakes. Easy, delish, go-to recipe! Did double the quantities so there are leftovers for lunch. Another fab recipe from your website, thank you from a fellow dietitian!
Thanks Laura, it’s such an easy recipe but so tasty, good idea to double the quantities and have the next day.
I made this with the anchovies and thought it might be too fishy, but it was delicious!
It’s a really simple but flavour packed recipe, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it too!
Wow – delicious and super easy to pull together. I added some chives and parsley in at the end. For once I didn’t feel like I was missing out on a delicious Italian meal due to a lack of onions and garlic. Thanks!
Thanks Ashleigh, glad you enjoyed it! It’s one I make a lot ?