Now I know that pasta dishes like these can strike fear in the hearts of carb-conscious folk. But there ARE ways to enjoy delicious, comforting pasta meals like this without sending your blood sugar and insulin levels sky high! In fact I posted an article a while ago with My Top 8 Tips to Make Your Pasta Dish Healthier! So go check it out!

When making this recipe, I followed Tip number 4 and used a lower-GI pasta - San Remo Pulse Pasta. I also followed tips 1, 2, 6 and 7! Each little tweak boosts the nutrition profile of your pasta meal, so check out my article HERE and give them a try while you are making this recipe!

The great thing about this recipe is that it is delicious warm or cold, so it's a great dish to serve for dinner plus take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day.

And the benefit of eating pasta or other "carby" foods that have been cooked and then refrigerated overnight is that they go through a process called "retrogradation" which lowers their glycemic impact (this means your blood sugar and insulin won't shoot up as much!) and boosts the content of resistant starch, which is food for our super-healthy inner bacteria! Ad the effects are amplified further if they are re-heated too! You can read more about this HERE and HERE!

Ingredients

1 pack Pasta spirals - I used San Remo Pulse Pasta because it is higher in protein and fibre, and lower in carbs, than regular pasta
1/2 small pumpkin, peeled, de-deeded and cut into small cubes
1/2 cup kalamata olives, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 red capsicum (bell pepper), cored, de-seeded and finely diced
100g low fat feta cheese, crumbled
1 generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Toss pumpkin pieced in 1 tablespoon olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper
Place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees celsius) for 20 minutes or until cooked through

Cook pasta according to the directions on the pack. When "al detnte", drain and place in a large bowl.
Add roasted pumpkin, chopped olives, diced capsicum, crumbled feta, chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Toss together to combine. Taste and add extra salt and pepper if needed.

Serve and enjoy!