Friday, May 27, 2011

Healthy Recipe #2 - Homemade Herbed Tomato Sauce

A few weeks ago, my whole family visited our family orchard in the province north of Luzon (Philippines).  Veggies there in the province are quite cheap this time of the year, especially tomatoes.  And since summer time is the peak season for tomatoes, they can be bought at a very cheap price.  So Mom bought crates of tomatoes and other local vegetables to be distributed among her children. (How sweet and caring of her, really!)  When we came home from the province, I just thought I needed to make use of all those veggies, especially the bunch of tomatoes I got from Mom.  So I decided to make a basic homemade tomato sauce with different herbs to add flavor and aroma.

My fresh tomatoes which I made into sauce
Tomatoes, by the way, are rich in nutrients and provide lots of health benefits.  Some of these benefits include an abundant source of antioxidants and reduces cholesterol and protects the heart because of its large amount of lycopene, improves vision, keeps the gut healthy, lowers hypertension, prevents gallstone, and a rich source of vitamins and minerals.

This is another simple recipe you can make at home - all-natural tomato sauce without preservative and food coloring.  It's so simple that I don’t even keep track of the measurements!  I just go by my own personal taste and preference.(LOL)

Ingredients:
Fresh whole tomatoes (preferably red), boiled, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped (Reserve the tomato juice)
Olive oil
Onion, finely chopped
Garlic, minced
Carrot, finely chopped
Stalk of celery, finely chopped (optional)
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Fresh thyme, chopped
Fresh or dried basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.  Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion, garlic, carrot, celery and parsley.  Stir and cover the skillet then reduce the heat to low.  Stir occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.

2.  Remove the cover and add the tomatoes, including the juice, and smash the tomatoes, if you prefer.  Increase the heat to medium high.  If you want it to be thick, you may add a little tomato paste.  Add the chopped basil and thyme.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a low simmer by reducing the heat to low and then cook until thickened.

3.  As a sauce for pasta, cook pasta according to package instruction.  Drain pasta noodles.  In a small pan over low heat, mix in a little of the sauce in a serving of the pasta to give the pasta a taste of the sauce.  Transfer to your serving plate then pour remaining tomato sauce (with tomato chucks) on top.  And voila! (Note:  Transfer cooled tomato sauce in tight (glass) container or jar, and store in fridge.)

My Herbed Tomato Pasta





 
Sharing my simple healthy recipe at:

9 comments:

  1. I really prefer real tomatoes rather packed tomato sauce on spaghetti. this is no nice! really appreciate it.

    Hope you have time to visit my blog too http://aquinochris.blogspot.com

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  2. wow! nothing beats the yummyness of homemade sauce!

    Visiting thru Food Trip Friday.Blogspot is acting up (again!) and I can't log in to use my FTF account. Thanks!

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  3. What a healthy homemade pasta!Mas masarap talaga pag homemade^_^Kudos to you dear for the effort of making the tomato sauce.

    http://ties-bonding.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-kids-bento.html

    Happy FTF!

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  4. Great recipe. I prefer having plain tomato sauce on my pasta.

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  5. i love cooking from the scratch too. looks wonderful.. pls visit mine here http://www.sweetiejake.com/2011/05/chicken-curry-pinoy-style.html

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  6. Really fresh and healthy, love it!

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  7. Oh, there is nothing like a homemade tomato sauce...it sounds delicious!

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  8. that's great...and it really looks delicious! you did so well in making your own sauce. anyway, have a great weekend! -PinayMum - Mommy's Life Around...

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