Oprah Winfrey's 'Favorite Pasta' Has the 'Least Amount of Calories' Thanks to Oatmeal
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Oprah Winfrey's "favorite pasta" dish has a secret ingredient: oatmeal.
In a video shared to Oprah Daily on Sunday, Winfrey joined her chef Phillipe Chevalier in the kitchen to demonstrate how to make her favorite pasta dish. Winfrey, a WeightWatchers investor, wanted to make the meal with "the least amount of [WW] points or calories possible," she says, so Chevalier had to get creative.
For the plate of lemon pasta with mushrooms and peas, Winfrey also requested Chevalier avoid using butter and cream.
"I can't believe there's no cream in it," Winfrey said after tasting. "I wanted to see that there's no cream in it, so this is the secret."
Oprah/Instagram
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Chevalier explains that rather than cream, he uses the starchy liquid from cooked oatmeal to achieve the desired creaminess. The chef cooks the oats in water flavored with a bouillon cube before he strains out the liquid to help make a velvety sauce.
After he's sets aside the liquid, Chevalier begins sautéing up mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to soften. Next, the chef adds the strained oatmeal liquid to the pan along with lemon zest and a heaping spoonful of grated parmesan.
Before adding some cooked spaghetti to the pan, the chef adds chopped chives, basil and a bit of lemon juice. Chevalier says he "like[s] to use Meyer lemon" since it's "less acidic."
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Winfrey and Chevalier finish seasoning the dish with a pinch of salt and generous cranks of black pepper before plating up a big twirl of pasta. Chevalier admits the two forgot to add the peas alongside the herbs and lemon juice, but quickly throws them on top of the pasta with fresh basil and wedges of fresh lemon. (Get the full recipe on oprahdaily.com.)
Winfrey takes a big forkful of pasta as joy melts across her face with every bite. "I love it so much," the media mogul utters before giving chef Chevalier a high five to celebrate their successful meal.
