Your Friday night dinner sorted: Kayla Itsines’ foodie sister Leah shares her go-to salmon pasta – after losing six kilos without giving up foods she loves
- Kayla Itsines’ sister Leah has shared one of her favourite pasta recipes
- The salmon dish is one of her ‘easiest ever’ and is a quick and easy dinner optionÂ
- In 2020, she lost 30cm of body fat without giving up any of the foods she lovesÂ
- She said she did it by giving up mindless eating and cutting down on snacking
- She founded the BARE food guide focused on Balanced and Realistic Eating
Leah Itsines, the younger foodie sister of fitness star Kayla Itsines, has shared one of her favourite quick and easy pasta dishes for fans craving a hearty comfort meal.
Leah, the Adelaide-based founder of the BARE food guide, wowed fans in November after revealing she had lost six kilos and 30 centimetres of body fat without giving up any of the foods she loved – including pasta.Â
Posting to her 577,000 followers, Leah shared a post of the mouthwatering salmon fettuccine recipe and described the creamy dish as the ‘easiest ever’ thanks to its simple ingredients.Â
Leah Itsines, the foodie sister of fitness star Kayla Itsines, has shared one of her favourite quick and easy pasta dishes for fans craving a hearty comfort meal
To make it, Leah cooks garlic, chilli, lemon zest and shallots in melted butter for three to four minutes before adding a fillet of salmon and cooking it for five to six minutes.Â
She then shreds the cooked fillet in the pan before pouring over 300mL of heavy cream and seasoning with salt and pepper.Â
To finish it off, she adds in the cooked pasta (or carb of choice) and a handful of rocket to wilt through.  Â
The tasty meal serves three and can be calorie-controlled using zucchini noodles or low-GI carb options like whole-grain or spelt spaghetti.
Recipe: How to make Leah Itsines’ delicious salmon pastaÂ
Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 red chilli, sliced
1 shallot, finely diced
1 lemon, zestedÂ
300ml heavy cream
1 fillet of salmon, skin off
Salt and pepper
Handful rocket
250g uncooked pasta, cooked
Method:
1. Heat a deep pan over medium heat and melt butter. Add garlic, chilli, lemon zest and shallots. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add salmon into the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Shred the salmon in the pan and pour over cream. Season again with salt and pepper and taste.
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3. Add cooked pasta into the pan with 3-4 tbsp of pasta water. Mix together and season again.
4. Throw rocket into the pan and let to wilt through. Serve immediately.
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Leah, who has grown a loyal following from her love of cooking and subsequent BARE (Balanced and Realistic Eating) food guide, has never been overweight but at the beginning of 2020 tipped the scales at 74.6 kilos after sustaining an injury that left her unable to exerciseÂ
Leah, who has grown a loyal following from her love of cooking and subsequent BARE (Balanced and Realistic Eating) food guide, has never been overweight but at the beginning of 2020 tipped the scales at 74.6 kilos after sustaining an injury that left her unable to exercise.Â
In ten months later, she lost more than six kilos to weigh 68.5kg and found herself feeling happier and healthier than ever.
‘For me, it wasn’t about weight loss but feeling comfortable,’ Leah told FEMAIL at the time. ‘I can finally fit into a pair of jeans that I’ve kept at the back of my cupboard for over two years.’Â Â Â
Leah’s approach to diet and exercise involved cutting back on soft drinks and snacking, and becoming more aware of what she was eating.
Nowadays, a typical day on her plate involves three balanced meals a day and one snack.Â
Leah (pictured before and after) said she had really ‘low confidence and energy’ when she decided something needed to change and she should take charge of her health
Leah is the younger sister of Sweat and BBG founder and fitness star Kayla Itsines (pictured)
She is also going to the gym several times per week, mixing up resistance work with 45-minute daily walks and Pilates to make sure she stays on track with her goals.Â
‘I have got into air frying everything I cook and I love it,’ she said.
‘Before I did this, I was a super heavy hand with cooking oils when cooking (blame my Greek heritage!), but switching to air frying is a super simple way of both reducing the fat I put into dinner and speeding up my cooking.’
Leah is now inspiring other men and women to take charge of their health in a controlled and relaxed way with her program.  Â
Leah said you can still eat the things you love like pasta or pizza, provided you load them up with vegetables and protein in order to make them healthier.
‘Don’t label certain foods as “good” or “bad” as it creates boundaries around them and makes you crave things you think you can’t have,’ Leah said. Â
Recipe: How to make healthy chicken pesto pizza
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Ingredients:
Olive oil spray
One pita bread or wrap
One tablespoon pesto
70 grams rotisserie chicken, skinless and shredded Â
35g baby spinach
Four cherry tomatoes, halved
Four Kalamata olives, halved
30g reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of curry powder (optional)
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Method:Â
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Heat a large frypan over medium-high heat and spray with olive oil. Place pita bread in pan and cook on each side for one minute or until lightly golden.
3. Place pita on a pizza or baking tray and spread with pesto. Top with shredded chicken, baby spinach, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, oregano and curry powder, if using.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Slice and enjoy!
Source: Leah ItsinesÂ
