IBS Friendly Carrot Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce

When it comes to veggies, it's never easy for us IBS pals. I love my veggies, and honestly, I could easily live with a vegan diet, but with IBS, it's quite hard.

Adapting cooking to my IBS

Having such a restrictive diet can be hard to bear sometimes. I refuse to end up eating the same 3 annoying dishes. I always felt that I missed having an artistic outcome, but I guess that cooking can be another form of art; I "just" had to adapt it to my IBS.

With this recipe, I wanted to recreate a very classic Italian dish, "Pasta al pomodoro," but IBS-friendly and incredibly, with more veggies! Carrots are, to me, the most used veggies after I got my IBS diagnosis. They are sweet, cheap, versatile, and easy to pair with most flavors.

It is interesting to know how I got to this recipe. It all started because I bought the wrong peeler at IKEA! I got this peelers bundle, and one of them was to "spiralize" or "spaghettize" vegetables. How cool! I then thought about trying to make "spaghetti" out of my carrots. I did not invent these, of course; I always see overpriced zucchini noodles at the supermarket, so I just made my own (a lot cheaper) version of it.

Choosing stomach friendly alternatives

I cannot lie, the real starchy -created by God himself- spaghetti, are on a whole other level, but sometimes we can be flexible and try new things. I found the dish delicious, healthy, and light. You are free to add any herb or spice that you wish and can handle, I don't really enjoy spicy things, so I just added some sunflower seeds and parmesan. I just know that spices can be irritating for someone with IBS. Luckily for me, that is not an issue, due to the culinary tradition in my area of Italy (north-east), where we don't use anything too hot. Of course, I get that it can be harder for those who have a different background and only know how to cook with spices, but this is why I'm here to help.

My dishes might not be as tasty as the spicy ones, but they are still delicious!

Buon appetito!

Makes: 2 servings
Serving Size: a plate each
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: around a total of 20 minutes

Ingredients for carrot spaghetti with tomato sauce:

• 3 big carrots
• 1 can of peeled tomatoes
• Half a teaspoon of dried oregano
• Half a teaspoon of dried basil
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chilli flakes to taste
• Some parmesan cheese
• 1 clove of garlic
• I added a tablespoon of sunflower seeds for crunchiness

Directions for carrot spaghetti with tomato sauce:

1. In a pan, add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, add the garlic, and let it brown
2. Wash, peel, and spiralize the carrots
3. In a blender, add the canned tomatoes, dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Pulse until your desired sauce consistency is achieved.
4. Once the garlic has browned, remove it and add the sauce.
5. When it starts boiling, add the carrots and let them cook until you reach your favorite consistency.
6. The water that's inside the tomato will cook the carrots, if you wish to achieve a softer consistency, just add some water.
7. Once served, add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, parmesan, and your favorite toppings.