Everyone eats spaghetti bolognese with halloumi, mint and yoghurt, right? Growing up, we became accustomed to classic dishes with a Cypriot twist that my sisters and I just thought were normal.
Knowing how delicious this is, the classic version seems so boring to me now. While on The Blood Sugar Diet this was definitely a meal I needed to adapt to be diet-friendly to sate my pasta cravings. I turned to my trusty vegetable spiralizer for a courgette pasta alternative to make this dish suitable within my dietary requirements.
I used vegan mince for this recipe due to calorie restrictions. It’s suitable for vegetarians and is adaptable for vegans if you swap the halloumi and the yoghurt for alternatives (though the halloumi really does make the difference – sorry vegans!).
Even if you don’t need to keep your calories super low, I recommend giving this low-carb spaghetti bolognese recipe a try! Use the bolognese recipe with your usual preferred pasta and surprise guests with a new take on the classic. It’ll be a conversation topic for sure!
This vegetable spiralizer from Amazon is a total life-saver when cutting carbs and let’s you fill up on veg while saving your calories for the sauce.
Courgetti Bolognese Recipe
Equipment
- Vegetable Spiralizer
- Non-stick pan with lid
- Colander
- Mixing bowl
- Cheese grater
Ingredients
- 1400 g Courgette (about 4, large) Spizalized
- 150 g Onions Chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic Minced
- 180 g Vegan mince
- Olive oil spray
- 10 Fresh basil leaves Torn
- 1 tsp Dried basil
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1 tsp Dried thyme
- 3 tsp Dried mint
- 2.5 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tsp Pepper
- 1.5 tsp Sweetener
- 1 tsp Tobasco
- 400 g jar Bolognese base sauce (I use Barilla)
- 400 g jar Water
- 45 g Halloumi (or vegan cheese alternative) Finely grated
Instructions
- Spiralize the courgette
- Heat the pan with a couple of sprays of olive oil and add the courgetti. Cook with a sprinkle of salt and pepper for 3-5 mins. They should still be a bit hard as they’ll continue to soften and even more so when added to the sauce.
- Move the courgette to a colander over a mixing bowl and leave to drain as much water out as possible.
- Heat the pan with some more olive oil spray and add the onions and garlic. Sauté until soft and browning.
- Add the vegan mince and cook until it has browned.
- Stir in the fresh basil, dried basil, oregano, thyme, mint, sweetener, tobasco, salt and pepper.
- Add the bolognese base sauce, and fill the jar with water and add that too. Let it simmer with the lid on for 10 mins. Then remove the lid and reduce down to your desired thickness (about another 5 minutes) on a very low heat.
- Squeeze the courgette a little to release any more liquid and then add it to the pan with the sauce.
- Cook together for a few minutes until the courgette is hot again and serve with a 15g of grated halloumi cheese (or vegan alternative) each and top with a dash of dried mint.
- In my family we always eat bolognese (and most things!) with yoghurt. Add two spoons (40g) of 0.1% fat yoghurt for an extra 20 calories if you like.
Notes
Please note that I have not been sponsored to recommend these products but as an Amazon Associate I will earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
