A rosé pasta — that pink, creamy tomato sauce — made by blending softened tomatoes with a little cream cheese. Tossed with shrimp and pasta it’s 30.5g of protein for 343 calories, no cream in sight.

Cream cheese blended into the tomato is the whole trick behind the “rosé” colour and creaminess.

Ingredients

  • For the pasta
  • Whole-grain spaghetti — 85 g [P 12 C 62 F 3]
  • Salt — for the pasta water
  • For the rosé tomato sauce
  • Tomatoes — 2 medium, chopped [P 2 C 8 F 0]
  • Onion — 1 medium, sliced
  • Garlic — 3 cloves
  • Fat-free cream cheese — ¼ cup [P 4 C 3 F 0]
  • Pasta water — ¼ cup (reserved)
  • Olive oil — ½ tsp (or spray)
  • Pepper, paprika — to taste
  • For the shrimp
  • Raw shrimp — 250 g (about 14 x-large), peeled & deveined [P 48 C 0 F 3]
  • Olive oil — ½ tsp (or spray)
  • Salt, pepper, paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder — to taste

Method

  1. Cook the pasta. Boil 7 minutes; reserve ¼ cup water, then drain.
  2. Cook the shrimp. Season and pan-cook 2–3 minutes a side; remove.
  3. Blend the sauce. Soften the tomatoes, onion and garlic 3–4 minutes, then blend with the cream cheese, pasta water, pepper and paprika until smooth.
  4. Combine. Toss the sauce, pasta and shrimp.

What to eat it with

  • A handful of spinach stirred in for greens.
  • Light parmesan on top.
  • Chilli flakes.

Variations

  • Any protein: chicken or salmon.
  • Spicier: more chilli in the sauce.
  • Lower carb: a chickpea or lentil pasta.

Honest notes

  • Fibre: about 4g a serving, from the pasta and tomato.
  • Shrimp note: naturally very lean — one of the lowest-fat pastas here.
  • Macros: reconcile with the per-serving 343 cal / 30.5g protein listed; no correction needed.