Weight Watchers Recipes

Here’s a simple, but very delicious pasta dish with fresh green peas.

You can use other pasta types too, but tagliatelle pasta noodles are recommended, as they seem to have been made for this recipe!

For some extra taste, you can use 1 cup vegetable broth instead of the water.

Weight Watchers Pasta and Peas recipe
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
500 g tagliatelle pasta noodles
500 g fresh peas
2 spring onions, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
1 cup water
salt (to taste)
pecorino cheese (to taste)

Preparation
1. Place the peas in a saucepan with the salt, spring onions, olive oil, parsley and water.
2. Cook them gently for 15 minutes.
3. In the meantime,cook the tagliatelle in a separate saucepan, drain them and return them to the saucepan.
4. Add the cooked peas to the tagliatelle, making sure to include the juices.
5. Mix well and serve hot with grated pecorino cheese.

WW POINTS per serving: 9
Nutritional information per serving: 448 calories, 10.8g fat, 7.1g fiber

Here’s a delicious shrimp & garlic dish that you can cook for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.

This meal is quick and easy to prepare, and can be safely enjoyed by those who suffer from diabetes.

Weight Watchers Shrimp Scampi recipe
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
11-15 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation
1. Heat butter and oil in large non-stick skillet over high heat. When butter starts to brown, add garlic.
2. Lower heat; cook for 1 minute, stirring to prevent garlic from over-browning.
3. Add shrimp; cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add wine, lemon juice, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.
5. Stir in bread crumbs and parsley. Serve immediately.

WW POINTS per serving: 3
Nutritional information per serving: 127 calories, 10g fat, 0.2g fiber

I don’t post a lot of pasta recipes here because they’re not exactly diet-friendly. But today I found this great recipe for spaghetti with Italian meatballs that’s only 6 points!

You can add a little basil and garlic to the sauce if you like, but other than that, this dish is wonderful and full of flavor!

Weight Watchers Spaghetti with Italian Meatballs recipe
Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

Sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes if available)
1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (12 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 cup water

Italian meatballs
4 slices dry bread
1 lb ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
hot cooked spaghetti

Preparation
1. Cook the onion in hot oil until it is tender (but not brown).
2. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and bay leaves.
3. Simmer for 30 minutes. As the sauce simmers keep an eye on it, if it looks too thick add some water up to one cup.
4. While the sauce is simmering mix together the meatballs.
5. To dry the bread, preheat your oven to it’s lowest setting (170 degrees) and when it gets to that temperature, turn it off and place the bread slices in and let the low heat dry them.
6. Remove bread from the oven and place in a mixing bowl.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with sides with foil.
8. Soak the dried bread in water for 2-3 minutes, then squeeze out the moisture.
9. Combine the bread with the rest of the ingredients, mixing well with your hands.
10. Form into small balls (approximately 20).
11. Bake for 15 minutes or until they are cooked through.
12. Remove from the pan and add to the simmering sauce.
13. Cook for 30 minutes longer.
14. Serve over hot spaghetti.

WW POINTS per serving: 6
Nutritional information per serving: 288 calories, 10.3g fat, 6.6g fiber

A reader (Krystie) requested a good home made pizza recipe that can be eaten without guilt (and without going over the allowed WW daily points), so here is a very light traditional Italian pizza: Pizza Margherita.

It is one of the most simplest (both in preparation and ingredients) types of pizza, and it’s also healthy. Try it, and see how truly delicious pizza can be when made at home, fresh!

Weight Watchers Pizza Margherita recipe
Makes 16 slices (2 pizzas)

Ingredients

Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups water, at 110 degrees
3/4 tablespoon fast rising yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pizza Sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
3/4 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sugar

Finish
4 ounces bocconcini, cubed (fresh mozzarella)
1 cup fresh basil, torn
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
fresh ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Pizza Dough: Add yeast and sugar to water, whisk and set aside until foamy.
2. Add yeast mixture and oil to flour; mix and turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead 5 minutes (10 minutes if under stress or worried).
3. Place in oiled bowl, loosely covered with plastic wrap or clean towel; allow to rise in warm place until doubled in size, 45-60 minutes.
4. Divide dough in half and roll out two 12″-15″ pizza crusts.
5. Pizza Sauce: Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse 10 times.
6. Finish: Spread 1/2 cup Pizza Sauce on each pizza (reserve the remaining sauce for another use); scatter each with half the cubed boconcini, basil and grated mozzarella; drizzle with half the olive oil and add pepper.
7. Bake topped pizza at 500° for 10-12 minutes.

WW POINTS per slice: 5
Nutritional information per serving: 245 calories, 11.1g fat, 1.7g fiber

This tortellini soup recipe is a perfect blend of broth, tender veggies and cheesy pasta. It’s fast, easy and delicious - just try it!

Weight Watchers Tortellini Soup recipe
Makes 5 servings

Ingredients
1 package fresh, frozen tortellini or tortellini
1 can diced tomatoes (or peeled, diced fresh)
2 cans chicken broth (or equivalent bouillon cube)
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped (or slightly less frozen)
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
2 teaspoons crushed, chopped garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons good quality olive oil
1 cup water

Preparation
1. Saute celery, onion, carrots and garlic in oil.
2. Add spinach and tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes.
3. Add spices and chicken broth.
4. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender-crisp.
5. Add water and tortellini and simmer 10-15 minutes.
6. Remove bay leaf and serve.

WW POINTS per serving: 7
Nutritional information per serving: 365 calories, 10g fat, 3.8g fiber