If, like me, you have poor blood glucose control (my story here) then sitting down to a big bowl of pasta is not on the cards. Even grain-free pasta (made from legumes etc) is going to spike your glucose, despite getting a decent score from ZOE: 



But sometimes, you just want pasta! And for me, it's really just a vehicle for pesto - I LOVE good pesto. So what can you do to combine foods in a way that gives you a yummy, satisfying pasta-like experience but doesn't put your body under horrible, damaging stress? Start with a pasta that gets a decent score, like Chickapea (score above). 

There are lots of other brands of dried noodles made from only legumes but I like the consistency of cooked Chickapea more than the others. 
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Now add the ingredients that will flatten the glucose spike you'd otherwise get from this meal. Start by adding a tablespoon of pesto while the pasta is still warm. Then throw in:  
- 2 tablespoons of black olives (most important because fibre AND good fat)
- half a cup of broccoli
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- handful of cherry tomatoes
- handful of arugula
Grate some extra parmesan on top too if you like! Here's what happens to the score: 


And that's how to have your pasta and eat it too. Or something. 

PS: If you really want to, you can create exactly the same bowl with regular pasta and still get a score of 81. But you'd be depleting the nutritional value of the dish; legume-based noodles serve up a good amount of protein. 

Pro tip from The Glucose Goddess

If you're going to go for the full pasta experience, try a Glucose Goddess hack: add a tablespoon of vinegar (any vinegar other than a syrupy balsamic) to a big glass of water and drink that before your meal. The acetic acid in the vinegar will reduce the impact of the meal on your blood glucose by up to 30%. THIRTY PERCENT!