This is super easy and deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish!
Serves 4-6 (If you're not 4, it's ok, leftovers freeze well)
2 x Tins Italian plum tomatoes
1 xMed/Lrg Onion
1 x Green pepper
As much garlic as you like
Salt (preferably not regular table salt)
ground pepper
3-4 teaspoons of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it) - you can substitute with agave nectar but with this dish it doesn't have the same effect as sugar)
Big handful fresh flat leaf pasley
Big handful fresh basil
Oil (I use coconut) - or Olive
Method:
Chop onion and green pepper
Heat oil and fry the chopped onion and pepper until it has a nice colour (this adds to flavour)
You can add the garlic at this point, if you want a stronger garlic taste, add it closer to the end of your cooking time
While the above is getting nice and brown, chop your fresh herbs
Chuck the canned tomatoes and fresh herbs in
use a big spoon/wooden spoon/egg lifter to bash the tomatoes up
and let it cook til the cows come home (approximately 2 hours)
If it tastes a little bland, you need to add more salt
Calories? A whopping 80cals per humungous serving.
Pasta is about 200Cals per 50g uncooked.
If you're a small eater and watching your calorie intake 50g is enough, if like me you have a big appetite and have enough over of your daily calorie intake, 100g will do. :)
Notes:
The secret to a good pasta sauce is letting it cook slowly at a low temperature. Reason being, you need the flavours to mix nicely. Taste a bit as it starts cooking and taste again when it's done, you'll clearly notice the difference. Especially for the fresh herbs, all that nice flavour needs to extract and mix with the other ingredients, it simply won't taste the same with dried herbs. If the mixture starts getting too thick and you're concerned about it burning, just add a little water. Give it a stir every 20min or so. If you want a smoother/finer sauce, chuck the lot in a blender.
For the Italian Plum Tomatoes (I use the LaBelinda brand from fruit and veg) The reason for plum tomatoes is that they're naturally sweeter and not as acidic as regular tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes is of course a better choice as it doesn't have the BPA that comes along with canned foods, but the plum variety is not always available and also takes longer to cook. If using fresh plum tomatoes, you may also need to add some tomato puree for extra flavour and colour. The type of tomato you use can either make or break your sauce. I've been through most of the brands, for colour, flavour and texture, LaBelinda does it for me.
Flat leaf parsley has a more desireable texture and has a stronger flavour than curly leaf parsley. For this reason, I only use curly leaf parsley for garnish
Choice of pasta brand - Thanks to an italian friend educating me about this a few years ago, I only use imported italian pasta. Why? You can simply cook and drain, then swish around a little olive so it doesn't stick together after cooking. Locally made pasta is left with way too much starch that you must rinse off - and then still reheat. This is my experience anyway, it just tastes nicer. I use Barilla, it's most commonly available. Fruit and Veg imported stock is also good.
This sauce doesn't need meat, it's busting with enough flavour. If you must have your meat fix, add mince meat while browning the onion etc. If you add around 500grams, you'll be able to feed a lot more than 4 people.
If there's a vegetarian at the table and the rest of the party want meat.. a good alternative is to coat chicken strips with thick soy sauce. Let that fry nicely until the soy sauce is close to burning - if that makes sense? Only turn it once, when you see the strips are more white than pink, flip them over. If you turn them too soon you might have bits of chicken sticking to the bottom of the pan. (spray and cook helps) Scoop some of the tomato sauce into the pan, mix it all up and voila.
Don't forget to cook the pasta :)
Here's a good link about how to cook pasta properly.
http://www.cookingindex.com/info/18/features/how-to-cook-pasta-properly.htm
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