A Renal Friendly Pasta Alternative
We often associate pasta with less renal-friendly pairings such as tomato, cream, or cheese–based sauces that can pack in sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. However, pasta can serve as highly versatile basis for a variety of dishes due to its neutral taste. Pesto, an olive oil-based sauce, can be an excellent and tasty alternative. It is often made from a blend of basil, olive oil, small amount of pine nuts, and shredded cheese. The olive oil provides you with healthy fats and basil offers vitamins-such as vitamin K-and antioxidant properties. Adding vegetables to your pesto pasta dish can also make it a great vegetarian option and can give the meal a boost in nutrients and flavor.
Make Your Kidney Friendly Kitchen Glow With The Smells and Tastes of Italy
This recipe will transform your kitchen into a nook of rustic Italy with the robust flavors of roasted vegetables, feta cheese and fresh pesto. The preparation of the dish is simple but the end result tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen. It’s an easy, renal-friendly recipe with the potential to be modified to your preferences. We loved the pop of color the vegetables added to the pasta, which would make it great for a dinner party. If you’re on dialysis and hoping to add in some extra protein, chicken would be a delicious option.
Whole Wheat vs White Pasta
One serving of this recipe provides 493 kcals, 13.5 grams of protein, 67 grams of carbohydrates, 336mg of sodium, 477 mg of potassium, and 238 mg of phosphorus. We decided to use white pasta for less potassium and phosphorus. If you wanted to add some extra fiber to this dish you could use whole wheat pasta, however this would increase the potassium to 717 mg and phosphorus to 428 mg.
Cheese-filled tortellini vs Pasta with Feta
This recipe would also be tasty using a cheese-filled tortellini pasta instead of the feta cheese and white pasta. This would increase the sodium to 588 mg and would decrease the potassium to 474 mg and phosphorus to 250. You may choose a smaller portion size for this dish to reduce the sodium if you choose to prepare this dish with a cheese-filled tortellini pasta.
Ingredients
- 16 oz White Pasta
- 2 medium Zucchini sliced into half moons
- 1 medium Yellow Squash sliced into half moons
- 1 Large Red Bell Pepper diced inch squares
- 1/2 cup Mushrooms sliced fairly thick
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2/3 cup Pesto Sauce
- 1/4 cup Feta Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place zucchini, squash, bell pepper, onion and mushrooms on 18 by 13 inch baking sheet. Drizzle veggies with olive oil then toss to evenly coat. Roast in preheated oven until veggies tender. While veggies are roasting cook pasta according to package and drain.
- Pour drained pasta into a large bowl. Add in roasted veggies and pesto then toss to evenly coat. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
The KidneyGrub consensus is that this dish is a total, completely tasty success! I had leftovers from preparing it and they didn’t last for long. I loved that this dish had such simple ingredients because each of the elements of the dish (the variety of vegetables, the pesto, the feta) could really shine. The simplicity of the ingredients also allows for the dish to be modified to your preference, which is beneficial for different taste palates as well as different stages of kidney disease. This would be a great staple dish to add to your menu. Enjoy!
Article Written by: Erin Miller, Texas A&M University Dietetic Intern, Reviewed by Jessianna Saville, MS, RDN, CSR, LD, CLT
Thank you very much for recipes like these. Have a family member on dialysis and want to make his now restricted food choices as pleasant as possible. Please give us more of these renal friendly recipes
are we not supposed to stay away from NUTS?
Hi Marlon,
There are differences in opinions about nuts, but we love including them in a plant-based approach for CKD! This great article explains why Nuts are beneficial for people with CKD.