Healthy pasta is not an oxymoron

You’re thinking through your weeknight meals, and you’d like to incorporate at least a few that resemble healthy. But you’d also like an easy, flavorful pasta you know you can whip up quickly. Are these two things compatible?

A new cookbook by Joe Bastianich, co-owner of Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group and Eataly, and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, who owns restaurants and has co-authored five previous books, promises that pasta can be healthy. More specifically, the book’s title pledges recipes for “Healthy Pasta: The Sexy, Skinny, and Smart Way to Eat Your Favorite Food.”

The cover trumpets 100 recipes delivering under 500 calories, spanning ziti (partnered with savoy cabbage and pancetta) to shells (featuring lentils and shrimp mixed with white wine, red pepper flakes, garlic and thyme).

Partly inspiring the book? The role pasta plays in the siblings’ lives: Their mother is restaurateur, cooking teacher and author Lidia Bastianich.

Joe Bastianich says he realized he needed to change his eating habits and add exercise. “Ironically enough,” he writes, “it was my love of pasta that played a major role in helping me attain my fitness goals.”

Here are a few of their tips for cooking healthy pasta dishes:

Counting calories does not mean you’re eating healthy. “This is not a diet book,” they warn, “just a simple guide to enjoying more of the food you love in ways that are good for you.”

Don’t focus on deprivation. Instead of giving up something you love to eat, like pasta, find other ways to enjoy it: smaller portions, fewer ingredients, using cheeses with less fat.

Change your ingredients. Peeled tomatoes, for example, have less sodium.

Cook pasta al dente; chewing stimulates your digestive enzymes, they write. Taking longer to eat also means your body has more time to feel full.

The better the ingredients you put in, the more flavor you’ll find. Higher-quality pasta has more protein content. Using excellent olive oil allows you to use less.

Learn to substitute. If you want to skip grated cheese, toast breadcrumbs and crushed almonds in olive oil instead.

“Water is the perfect calorie-free ingredient,” the authors say. Toss some flavor-packed pasta cooking water in at the end to make the sauce a bit thinner at no extra cost to your waistline.

Mostacciolo With Asparagus and Roasted Mushrooms

Prep: 20 minutes. Cook: 25 minutes. Makes: 6 servings.

Recipe from “Healthy Pasta” by Joe Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Penne or ziti can be substituted for the mostaccioli. “Mushrooms can take in a lot of oil when you saute them,” the authors note. “So we roast them here with herbs and garlic to cut calories and add flavor.”

1 pound mixed mushrooms, such as button, cremini, shiitake, oyster, chanterelle or porcini

1 bunch medium asparagus, about 20 spears

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

10 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or as needed

Freshly ground pepper

10 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped green onions

1 pound mostaccioli

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped

1/2 cup freshly grated grana Padano

Heat the oven to 450 degrees, with two rimmed baking sheets on the bottom rack. (If your oven is not large enough to fit two pans on one rack, you can put one on the top and one on the bottom and rotate halfway through the cooking time.)

Heat a large pot of well-salted water to a boil for pasta. Wipe the mushrooms clean. Discard the stems. Cut the mushrooms into large chunks. Snap off the woody bottom stems of the asparagus and peel the lower half of the remaining tender stems. Cut the asparagus on the bias to about the same length as the mostaccioli.

In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with 1 tablespoon olive oil and half the sage and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast on one sheet pan until the mushrooms are browned and tender, tossing once or twice, 18 to 20 minutes. In the same bowl, toss the asparagus and garlic with another 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining sage and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast on the second pan until the asparagus is golden and tender, and the garlic is soft, about 10 minutes. Move both pans to the stove top to keep warm.

Add the mostaccioli to the boiling water. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the green onions and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the roasted garlic and mash with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste; add 1 cup pasta water. Heat to a simmer and cook until the garlic breaks down in the sauce, about 3 minutes.

When the pasta is al dente, remove it with a small strainer; add pasta directly to the sauce, along with the roasted vegetables, reserving the pasta water. Add the parsley to the skillet and toss to coat the pasta with the sauce, adding a splash of pasta water if the pasta seems dry. Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle with the grana Padano, toss and serve.

Nutrition information per serving: 420 calories, 11 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 65 g carbohydrates, 17 g protein, 291 mg sodium, 6 g fiber