Chunky pasta sauce
This recipe takes an old favourite and increases its natural healthy status. It is the chunky version of our basic pasta sauce. It has more veggies so it is even higher in plant sterols.
This recipe does not contain the ground beef that some people expect in their pasta sauce.
The ingredients are heart healthy as they contain large quantities of plant fibre and plant sterols. The tomatoes are high in licopene which is an anti-oxidant and has been promoted for prostate health.
1 can roma tomatoes (organic preferred - organic tomatoes contain double the licopenes of regular tomatoes.) Of course home grown are excellent also: you can be sure of where they come from.
We have frequented markets at the end of the season when local small farmers, who do not add pesticides or herbicides, sell off their tomatoes by the bushel basket for a few dollars. Wash them and freeze them in 1 litre bags for use in stews, sauces and soups. The same is true for zucchini - they are sold off at bargain prices, and are great for thickening sauces, soups and stews. Large zucchini can be fibrous and turnipy, so choose smaller ones if you can.
1 large onion diced small.
(1 small can tomato puree can be added for extra thickness and tomato flavour)
1 cup zucchini diced small
2 stalks celery sliced thin - paper thin if you can.
10 cloves garlic chopped small.
The following vegetables are cut larger to make the sauce "chunky."
1 large carrot.
1 red or yellow pepper.
1 cup cubed eggplant.
Italian herb mix
Salt and pepper.
1/4 cup olive oil.
Drain the tomatoes and reserve the juice.
In a large pot fry the onion until it is trasparent and soft. Add the garlic and fry 30 secs. more. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and stir on medium heat until the tomatoes start to carmelise on the bottom of the pan.
We use the carmelised onions and tomatoes to give a rich flavour to the sauce.
Add the other veg. and stir fry 2-3 minutes.
Add 1 litre water and the reserved tomato juice, bring to a boil then simmer 30 mins. Salt, pepper and season to taste.
Some experts (Italian grandmothers!) say that the longer you simmer, the better the sauce. Certainly it becomes thicker and tastier, but we find the shorter version quite acceptable.