- Elimination
- Reintroduction
- Maintenance
- Lunch
- Dinner
Tomato and Basil Pasta with Garlic-Infused Oil
Proof that pasta night survives the elimination phase. Twenty minutes, one pan of sauce, and nobody at the table can tell it is a restricted recipe.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
Published · Updated
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings. Each ingredient is labelled with its FODMAP status at this quantity.
- Portion-dependent
300 g gluten-free pasta (rice, corn or quinoa based)
Low FODMAP at 1 cup cooked per serve. Check the label — some GF pastas add inulin or legume flour.
- Low FODMAP
3 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
The entire savoury base of the dish. Commercially prepared only.
- Portion-dependent
1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes
Low FODMAP at 92 g per serve. Split across four people this sits just under the limit.
- Portion-dependent
2 tbsp tomato paste
Low FODMAP at 2 tbsp total across the dish.
- Low FODMAP
1 tsp dried oregano
- Low FODMAP
1/2 tsp sugar
Sucrose is low FODMAP. It balances the acidity of the canned tomato.
- Low FODMAP
1 large handful fresh basil, torn
- Low FODMAP
40 g parmesan, finely grated
Hard aged cheeses contain almost no lactose.
- Low FODMAP
1 tsp salt, plus more for the pasta water
What the labels mean
- Low FODMAPSafe at the serving size listed.
- Portion-dependentLow FODMAP only up to the serving size listed — larger servings stack.
Method
Step 1: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil and cook the gluten-free pasta to just under the package time — it goes from firm to collapsed faster than wheat pasta, so start tasting two minutes early.
Step 2: While it cooks, warm the garlic-infused oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the tomato paste and fry it for a full minute, stirring — this caramelises it and removes the raw, tinny edge.
Step 3: Pour in the chopped tomatoes, add the oregano, sugar and salt, and simmer briskly for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and darkened noticeably.
Step 4: Reserve a mug of pasta water, then drain the pasta and tip it directly into the sauce. Toss over the heat for a minute, loosening with splashes of the reserved water until the sauce clings rather than pools.
Step 5: Kill the heat, tear in the basil, and toss once more. Serve with the parmesan grated over the top.
Notes and swaps
- The minute spent frying the tomato paste is the difference between a flat sauce and one with real depth. Do not skip it.
- A pinch of chilli flakes is low FODMAP and adds a lot. So does a strip of lemon zest stirred in at the end.
- To add protein, stir through cooked chicken, prawns or 100 g of firm tofu per person — all are FODMAP-free.
Ask a room of people three weeks into elimination what they miss most and the answer is rarely something exotic. It is pasta with tomato sauce — the default weeknight dinner, the one that no longer works because every jarred sauce on the shelf lists onion and garlic in its first four ingredients.
The fix is straightforward once you stop trying to replace garlic and start replacing what garlic does.
What the infused oil is actually doing
Garlic’s contribution to a tomato sauce is an aromatic, faintly sweet savouriness that appears in the first minute of cooking. That compound set is fat-soluble. The fructans that cause your symptoms are water-soluble and do not migrate into oil. Infusing therefore separates the two almost perfectly: you get the flavour, and the fructans stay behind in the discarded solids.
Buy it rather than making it. Home-infusing garlic in oil and storing it creates a low-oxygen environment that can support Clostridium botulinum, and this is a genuinely serious risk rather than a cautious footnote. Commercial products are acidified or otherwise stabilised to prevent it.
The tomato arithmetic
Canned tomatoes are low FODMAP up to 92 g per serving, which is a smaller amount than most people assume — roughly a quarter of a standard can. Splitting one 400 g can across four servings lands just under the line. If you are cooking for two, use half the can, not the whole one, and freeze the rest.
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