The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight (18 page)

SI AND DAVE’S WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, cook just a 50g portion of rice to have with your meal. It won’t look much if you’re used to huge portions, but if you fill the rest of your plate with lots of colourful vegetables or salad, you will hardly notice.

The idea of many pasta dishes is that the pasta adds bulk so you don’t need so much of the sauce. When you’re dieting, reverse this so you have less of the pasta and more of the good stuff.

In dishes such as risotto it’s not the rice that’s the problem but the fat you add to it. Have a go at making our risotto which is lower in fat than usual – you’re going to love it.

Buy tomato-based sauces if you like, but check the calorie count on the label. Some of them are higher in calories than others.

Bulk out home-made sauces with extra vegetables, such as peppers and aubergine. Whiz them up if you like a smooth sauce.

Serve some extra protein like chicken or prawns with your pasta dish so you need less of the carbs.

HOME-MADE BUTTERNUT SQUASH TORTELLINI

Didn’t think you could eat stuffed pasta did you? Well, this recipe uses a gyoza dumpling dough, rather than a traditional home-made egg pasta, and could save you a whopping 240 calories or so for the recipe as a whole, and up to 60 calories a portion. The dough is much easier and quicker to roll than traditional pasta and makes beautiful tortellini. You can use the same recipe to make ravioli, lasagne or tagliatelle too.

SERVES 4

300g strong white flour, plus extra for rolling

½ tsp fine salt

200ml boiling water

Filling

500g butternut squash (½ small squash)

1 tsp olive oil

1 small red onion

3 tbsp quick-cook polenta

25g Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, finely grated

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

flaked sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Sauce

3 tbsp half-fat crème fraiche

handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves

389 calories per portion

First make the dough. Sift the flour and mix in the salt, then stir in the boiling water with chopsticks or a knife until a ball forms. If the dough seems too wet, add a bit more flour; if it’s too dry, add more boiling water. Cover the dough and leave it to stand and cool for about an hour. Meanwhile, you can get on with the filling.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Peel the butternut squash and cut it into rough 4cm chunks. Put these in a large bowl and toss with ½ tsp of the oil, a couple of pinches of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Scatter over a large baking tray and roast for 25 minutes until just tender when pierced with a skewer.

While the squash is cooking, halve and finely slice the onion. Put the slices in the bowl used for the squash, add the remaining oil and toss well. Scatter over the top of the squash after the 25 minutes cooking time and roast together for 10 minutes more.

Tip the hot vegetables back into the mixing bowl and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Add the polenta and blitz with a stick blender (or in a food processor if you prefer) to make a thick, orange purée. Set aside to cool for about an hour, then stir in the grated cheese and nutmeg. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until it’s very elastic. You can do this in a food mixer with a dough hook if you like. Take a third of the dough and roll it out very thinly on a floured surface, stretching and turning it as you go. Cut out 10 circles with a 9cm round pastry cutter, stacking the discs with a dusting of flour between them to stop them sticking. Continue until all the dough is used up – you can’t re-roll this dough.

Take a disc of dough and lay it flat in the palm of your hand. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle, dip your finger in water and brush it around the edge. Fold the pastry over and, gently squeezing out the excess air, press the edges firmly to form a semi-circular shape. Bring the two ends of the crescent round in front of the filling and dampen one end with a little cold water. Press firmly together to seal and create the tortellini shape. Set aside on a floured plate while you make the rest.

Half fill a very large saucepan with cold water and bring to the boil. Drop the tortellini gently into the hot water and bring it back to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes or until the pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander, leaving just 3–4 tablespoons of the cooking liquid in the pan to form the base for the sauce.

Tip the pasta back into the saucepan and add the crème fraiche, basil and spinach leaves. Season well with the chilli flakes and some freshly ground black pepper, then toss together over a low heat until the spinach wilts. Divide the tortellini between warmed plates to serve.

BEACHSIDE PAELLA

We cooked this on a beach in Northumberland and some said it was the best paella they’d ever tasted – dieting or not. You know what? We have to agree.

SERVES 6

1 tbsp olive oil

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in half

75g chorizo (we like picante)

skinned and cut into 5mm slices

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

1 red pepper, quartered, deseeded and sliced

1 yellow pepper, quartered, deseeded and sliced

150g green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 good pinches of saffron threads

1 bay leaf

175g paella rice (medium-grain rice)

1 litre hot chicken stock, made with 1 chicken stock cube

500g live mussels, well scrubbed and beards removed

1 medium squid, cleaned and sliced into rings or 225g prepared squid rings

12 raw king prawns, peeled or shells on, thawed if frozen

flaked sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

lemon wedges, for squeezing

358 calories per portion

Heat the oil in a 38cm paella pan – ideally non-stick. A paella pan is best, but if you don’t have one, use a very wide, shallow non-stick saucepan, flameproof casserole dish or sauté pan.

Place the pan over a medium heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper and fry them for about 5 minutes, turning every now and then until lightly coloured. Add the chorizo and cook for 30 seconds more, turning once. Transfer the chicken and chorizo to a large heatproof bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan.

Add the onions to the pan and fry gently for 4–5 minutes until softened and very lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add the peppers and green beans to the onions and cook for 2 minutes until they are beginning to soften. Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika, saffron, bay leaf and rice and cook for 1–2 minutes until the rice is glistening all over.

Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan, along with any juices. Stir well, then pour in the chicken stock and season with black pepper. Stir once or twice and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Tip the mussels into the partly cooked rice mixture and stir once more, making sure they are well tucked into the hot rice and steaming liquid. Return to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes or until most of the mussels have opened, stirring occasionally.

Scatter the squid and prawns over the top of the paella and stir well. Continue cooking for 4–5 minutes until the squid and prawns are cooked, the rice is tender and almost all the liquid has been absorbed. The prawns should be completely pink when cooked.

It’s important not to keep stirring after the squid and prawns are added – you want the rice to become lightly browned and a bit sticky at the sides of the pan as this adds flavour. Keep an eye on the heat though, as you don’t want the rice to burn. Add a splash more water if the paella begins to look very dry before the rice is ready. Pick out any mussels that haven’t opened by the end of the cooking time and chuck them away. Serve hot with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Top tip:

Make sure you wash and scrub your mussels really well, knocking off any barnacles which might be hitch-hiking a ride. Throw away any mussels that have broken or damaged shells. Tap any that are open on the edge of the sink. They should close, but if they don’t, throw them away as they are probably dead.

CHILLI LEMON TUNA AND BROCCOLI SPAGHETTI

A quick and easy lunch or supper dish that really hits the spot. Make sure you use very fresh tuna steaks, especially if you like them a little rare, or you can swap the tuna for salmon steaks or even white fish fillets if you prefer. Note the amount of pasta and don’t overdo it.

SERVES 2

150g tenderstem broccoli

100g dried spaghetti

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

½ tsp flaked sea salt

½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 very fresh tuna steaks (about 150g each)

1 tbsp olive oil

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp chilli oil

3 heaped tbsp flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

lemon wedges, for squeezing (optional)

472 calories per portion

Half fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Trim the broccoli and cut each stem into 3 pieces, leaving the heads intact. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water, return to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broccoli to the same pan and cook for 2 minutes more.

While the pasta is cooking, mix the dried chilli flakes, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture lightly over both sides of the tuna and set aside. Pour the oil into a large non-stick frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. You need a large frying pan because you will be tossing the drained pasta in the same pan. Fry the tuna steaks for 2–3 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are. If you like your tuna rare, cook for 1½ minutes on each side.