Clams with Pasta and Chilli (Vongole) – 5:2 Fast Diet Recipes

Clams with Pasta, Chilli and Coriander  – 5:2 fast diet recipes to share with friends:

Sometimes I look at the food I am eating on the 5:2 fast diet and wonder how those with families/partners cope.  I LOVE soups and fish, I’ve always eaten a lot of vegetables and I am quite adventurous with what I will try.  But, this fast diet is quite severe – 500 calories during the day, which I spread across two meals, skipping breakfast.  I also cope by eating a lot of soup.  If you avoid adding starchy vegetables, flour and cream, many soups are well under 100 calories for a bowlful.  I made vast quantities of fresh tomato soup recently – at under 70 calories for a bowlful of the soup with no garnish, it is a great option for fast day lunches, but quite nice enough for everyone to enjoy.

Main meals though, are a little more of a challenge.  By the time I’ve made an allowance for milk in my coffee I’m usually left with around 300 to 380 calories for my evening meal.  My personal preference on the 5:2 diet is to keep my main meal until the evening and then eat something which is quite high protein, low carbohydrate, in the hope it will stop me feeling hungry during the night.  Until recently I’d completely forgotten about shellfish as a meal option, although I DO love moules.  Then, I did a review of the Tilia service and I wanted to include some shellfish because I thought it would be a good measure of quality.  So, I had a nice package of palourde clams to use.

Now, a couple of years ago I remember seeing campervan man cooking mussels this way.  I don’t think he added pasta.  But, I knew that the clams alone wouldn’t quite be enough for me, even on a fast day, so I stirred through a little linguine, which I guess is something like an unbalance Vongole recipe?  But without the tomato and with coriander?

It was delicious, so I’m going to share!

Clams with Chilli and Coriander 5:2 diet

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	15 minutes
Allergy	Shellfish
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot

Ingredients

• 250g Live Clams
• 50ml Dry White Wine
• 1 Shallot (finely chopped)
• 1 Red Chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
• 1 handful Fresh Coriander
• 1 teaspoon Olive oil
• 30g Linguine

Directions

Step 1	Cook the linguine according to the directions on the packet
Step 2	While the pasta is cooking, warm the oil in a medium saute pan with a lid then gently soften the shallot and chilli.
Step 3	Add the wine and the clams and put the lid on the pan.
Step 4	Continue to cook over a low-medium heat until the clams are opened. Discard any that don't open
Step 5	Drain the pasta and add it into the pan. Stir well
Step 6	Stir in most of the coriander, saving a little to garnish the dish
Step 7	Season with pepper (and salt if necessary) and serve

Now, I only used a very little pasta in this 5:2 fast day diet recipe.  And, I deliberately added that because I think I would have craved bread without some kind of carbohydrate in the dish.  If you are not following the 5:2 diet or, if you have the spare calories, by all means serve this with a crusty roll.  Whatever, it’s delicious.  I used coriander because I like the taste and I happened to have some growing, but it would work equally well with fresh flat leaf parsley (closer to the traditional recipe for pasta vognole). You could also add coconut milk or cream for a slightly ‘richer’ dish.

The best thing about this dish for me is that it simply doesn’t look like diet food.  And it certainly doesn’t TASTE like diet food.  So, this is a dish you could share with friends or family who are NOT following the 5:2 diet.  Even if you are on a fast day.