The terms spelt pasta and low-carb have been on the rise in recent years. Today you hear a lot more about them than you did years ago. But what is spelt pasta? And is spelt pasta low carb? We’ll tell you all about it in this blog.
Is spelt pasta low in carbohydrates?
In 100 grams of spelt pasta there are 72,5 grams of carbohydrates. Spelt pasta is not low in carbohydrates. It does contain less carbohydrates than normal pasta.
What is spelt pasta
Spelt is an ancient grain known for its nutrients. Because it contains many nutrients, spelt is very healthy.
Spelt pasta is popular because it is so healthy, but also because it contains less gluten than white pasta. As a result, the pasta is easier to digest for many people.
Spelt is rich in vitamin B3 and contains more minerals such as copper, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and zinc. But also proteins and multiple, unsaturated fatty acids.
All these nutrients are more present in spelt than in wheat. Yet we are careful with these statements, because recent studies show that the differences are minimal. That does not alter the fact that spelt pasta is healthy anyway. A responsible choice!
The taste of spelt pasta
The taste of spelt is recognizable because it differs from wheat, from which white and whole wheat pasta is made. Spelt pasta has a more nutty and earthy taste compared to this pasta.
The nutty flavor makes it extra tasty to combine with certain recipes where these flavors also come back.
We recommend combining spelt pasta with a matching sauce. Such as pasta alla noci or pasta funghi. Of course you can also combine it with our other recipes! Of course you can also choose to use spelt pasta in our other recipes. Find inspiration on our recipe page!
Slow and fast carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide the bit of energy in our diet. Carbohydrates are found in almost all foods and can be divided into two groups: fast carbohydrates and slow carbohydrates. Fast carbohydrates are quickly converted by the body into sugar. This has the effect of raising blood sugar levels.
With slow carbohydrates the sugar is released slowly, causing the blood sugar level to rise less quickly. In this way, the blood sugar level remains stable and you prevent your blood sugar from spiking too much.
You want to prevent the spiking of blood sugar because it can cause damage to the blood vessels, among other things. It is not necessary to remove all fast carbohydrates from your diet. As long as your diet is balanced and mainly healthy.
Spelt pasta contains only slow carbohydrates, this is one of the reasons it is so healthy and a responsible choice. Especially if you combine it naturally with all kinds of healthy ingredients like different vegetables.
It is mainly the fast carbohydrates from unhealthy products that you should be wary of: sweets, soft drinks and fruit juices and alcohol for example. These also give energy, but otherwise contain very little nutrients. These are the real fatteners, especially since you are easily tempted to eat and drink more of them.
Choose slow carbs more often. The body digests them more slowly, so energy is released more gradually. This prevents dips during the day and has many other benefits.
What is a low-carb diet?
Maybe you’ve heard of it: a low-carb diet. What is it? People who are low-carb try to eat as few carbohydrates as possible. They do this by leaving out certain products.
There are several reasons why people eat low-carb diets. Often people want to lose weight by eating as few carbohydrates as possible. Sometimes it is aimed at improving blood glucose levels. There are also people who believe that it is healthy to avoid carbohydrates.
According to the nutrition center, a low-carb diet allows you to eat between 50 and 130 carbohydrates per day. Do you eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates? Then we speak of a ketogenic diet.
A low-carb diet works very well for some people, but the nutrition center also mentions several disadvantages of a low-carb diet.
They mention for example the risk of deficiencies of some important nutrients. Always check with your doctor or a dietician before starting a diet.
Spelt pasta low-carb?
So when you eat low-carb, you make sure you don’t exceed 130 carbs per day. For everyone this is personal and everyone has their own guidelines. If you eat few carbohydrates during breakfast and lunch, a small plate of spelt pasta fits perfectly in a low-carb diet.
In our blog “How many carbohydrates are in spelt pasta?” you can read that 100 grams of spelt pasta contains 72.5 grams of carbohydrates. So you can easily scoop up a bit more than 100 grams.
This does not mean that spelt pasta is a low-carb product, on the contrary. Spelt pasta contains a lot of carbohydrates. This makes spelt pasta not a low carbohydrate product.
Preparing spelt pasta
The average cooking time for spelt pasta does not differ much from regular and whole wheat pasta. Each type of pasta has its own cooking time. Fortunately, this usually does not take much time so you can prepare a delicious plate in no time.
Do you have little time? Then fortunately there are ways to cook spelt pasta faster. We have listed all the tips and tricks for you. You can read these tips in our blog “How to cook pasta quickly”.
Below we have listed a number of steps you can use to cook spelt pasta. By following these steps, you can cook the spelt pasta just right.
Spelt pasta is cooked in the following 6 steps:
Use a large saucepan to cook the spelt pasta
Take a large pan, the bigger the better. The whole grain pasta must be able to move around in the pan. This prevents the whole grain pasta from sticking together. Fill the large pan for 75% with hot water. By using hot water you save time because the water needs less time to boil. Do you want to save a lot of time? Then use a kettle so the water is already boiling.
Add some salt to the water
Make your pasta dish more delicious by adding a little extra salt to the boiling water. The salt gives the flavors in a dish an extra boost. This makes all the flavors more intense and delicious! Be careful, because too much salt can ruin your dish. We keep a guideline of about 10 grams of salt per 3 liters of water. You can read more about pasta cooking and salt in our blog: ‘Cooking pasta with or without salt’.
Do not use a lid when cooking spelt pasta
By not using a lid, the cooking water will not foam. For this reason, we always recommend not using a lid. It is also easier to keep the pasta moving. Read more about this in our next tip.
Keep the spelt pasta moving
Just like any pasta, whole wheat pasta has a tendency to stick together. By keeping the pasta moving you can prevent this from happening. Stir every minute with a spaghetti spoon in the pan. In this way you keep the whole wheat pasta moving sufficiently.
Taste the spelt pasta before pouring it out.
If you want to know whether the spelt pasta is good, it is wise to taste the spelt pasta. You do this before draining the pasta, so you can determine whether it is necessary to cook the pasta longer. In addition, you can immediately taste whether you have put enough salt in the water. You can choose to add some more salt to taste.
Add the spelt pasta to the pasta sauce at once
In Italy, they always add the pasta to the pasta sauce right away. This reduces the chance of the whole wheat pasta sticking together. By doing this, you will never have problems with sticky pasta. A good tip that we would like to pass on to you!