Spruce up your meals with super healthy and versatile home-cooked tomato sauce
Try this simple, but delicious recipe for a basic Italian tomato sauce which can be adapted in an endless variety of ways to enhance your cooking repertoire.
Cooking tomatoes boosts their disease-fighting ability and substantially raises their levels of beneficial phytochemicals.
Tomatoes are the major source of the antioxidant phytochemical lycopene which has been linked to many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. They are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate and vitamin K.
Lycopene is found in the highest concentrations in the skin of a tomato – the redder the tomato, the more lycopene it contains.
The amount of lycopene in processed tomato products is often much higher than in fresh tomatoes, but eat fresh, whole tomatoes whenever possible.
Eating tomatoes with a source of fat such as olive oil, can increase the absorption of nutrients by up to four times.
INGREDIENTS
2 cans of chopped Italian tomatoes
½ cup of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
sea salt and black pepper to taste
METHOD
Sauté the garlic, onion and carrot in the olive oil on a medium to low heat for 3 to 5 minutes in a saucepan. Add the tomatoes and a can of water. Simmer on a low heat, semi-covered with a lid, for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Use a masher to break up the tomatoes and vegetables for a sauce with the consistency and texture you prefer. Blending the sauce may make it too smooth.
The sauce can be served as a simple, but delicious pasta sauce as is, or as a base for other meat, fish, seafood or vegetable sauces. It can be used in stews, soups or curries, or as a sauce with pap, couscous, vegetables or meatballs. The possibilities are endless.
Prepare an extra batch and freeze for when next you want to use it.
