One of my favorite comfort foods is pasta. And although I have a gluten sensitivity, I still love to get my spaghetti or lasagne on every once in a while, but I use a great trick to avoid the gluten as well as the carbohydrates in pasta, and level up on the healthiness factor of this meal.

I kinda made this recipe up as I went, and it turned out pretty darn good, so I thought it was worth sharing. 🙂

Recipe Details

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 hours on low in your crock pot
Serving size: 1 – 1.5 cups

If you’re following the 21 Day Fix eating plan, each 1 cup serving equals:

• 2/3 green
• 1/3 red

Shopping List / Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey for a leaner protein)
• 1 onion – chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper (I also used a piece of orange pepper that I had left over in the fridge)
• 2 carrots – chopped
• 2 stalks of celery – chopped
• A handful of mushrooms – chopped
• 2 cans tomato paste – try to use one that has the least number of added ingredients.
  • The Italissima brand (in the photo) contains only tomatoes and salt.
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add ground beef (or turkey). Cook until the meat is browned (4-5 minutes), making sure to crumble the meat as it cooks. Drain excess fat and transfer to slow cooker.* This process helps melt off excess fat and water from the meat, which helps make it healthier before transferring it to the slow cooker.
2. Get rid of the excess fat and add remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil to the skillet. Add vegetables to the skillet and cook until the onions are soft (about 3 minutes). This process helps release the flavours from the veggies before adding them to the slow cooker. Transfer to slow cooker.
3. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and herbs and seasoning to the slow cooker and mix well.
4. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on LOW.
5. Stir well and serve with your choice of pasta or zoodles.

Enjoy!