A low carb/low calorie/Dukan ally : Slim Pasta

You may have noticed that I've been giving the Dukan 2 diet a trial for the past few weeks and one of the main principles is having a protein only day. I sat down and had a think and came up with a list of Pure Protein meals that are actually proper meals rather than just an assembly of meat and fish products, but even so, I used to come to the Pure Protein Mondays with a sense of ... maybe not dread but definitely a sense of deprivation and hassle. When Slim Pasta sent through a selection of their products for me to try out, I was over the moon to discover that they are made using konjac, a Japanese root which is an almost calorie free ingredient that can be eaten on Pure Protein days, or indeed by anyone not on Dukan but looking to lose weight.

It comes in a variety of forms, including spaghetti, fettucine, penne and even lasagne. The packaging could do with an overhaul in my opinion because the outer plastic pouch contains an inner plastic pouch and a recipe card. Surely by printing the recipe on the back of the pouch, they could vastly reduce the unnecessary packaging (one of my bugbears !).

It looks just like normal pasta and is ultra quick to prepare - you just empty the contents of the pack into a colander to remove the water it comes in then thoroughly rinse it before cooking it for about one minute in boiling water or a sauce. If you've never tried konjac-based products before, you'll want to run a mile because it has a vaguely unpleasant, fishy smell. Rest assured though, it doesn't taste of anything at all.

I tried the fettucine with a bolognese sauce. As it was Dukan-friendly, I added a squeeze of tomato puree but left out the usual tinned tomatoes so it was quite a dry sauce and didn't cover the Slim Pasta enough. As the Slim Pasta doesn't taste of anything, this made for quite a bland meal and the chewy texture of the konjac left me in no doubt that I wasn't eating proper spag bol. It did fill me up though and if you want a low cal option, you couldn't do any better because 100g of Slim Pasta contains a measly 21 calories.

Another pure protein Dukan meal was this dish made with Slim Pasta Spaghetti, a tin of tuna, some tomato puree, a couple of boiled eggs and a little bit of crème fraîche. As this had a sloppier sauce that covered the Slim Pasta better, I enjoyed this one more, although I only ate half of it because ot was so filling.

It's a bit of strange texture but you get used to it and if you're trying to shift a few pounds, it's a convenient and quick way of throwing together a low calorie version of your usual pasta dishes.

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £2.55 per 270g pack

for more information : http://www.eatwater.co.uk/

Disclosure : I received a selection of products in order to write an honest review.