November 08, 2009

Healthy Pasta Recipe - Tomato Based

Due to my food restrictions, I've been looking out for some healthy pasta recipes which I can cook.

I managed to find my whole wheat pasta and low-salt tomato pasta sauces from Cold Storage. I bought Preggo's Heart Smart Pasta Sauce which is made up of tomatoes, onions and garlic. It has low salt and has been approved by the US Heart Association. The sauce was a little pricey RM12 for a large bottle but I was lucky as I got the whole wheat pasta free together with the bottle!

Anyway, my recipe does not have any added salt or sugar as the sauce would have adequate seasoning.

Ingredients for 1 person's portion:
  • Whole Wheat Spaghetti (I got San Remo) - 1 portion
  • Garlic - 2 cloves
  • Onions - 2 small red onions or as many as you like
  • Cherry Tomatoes - 3
  • Heart Smart Onion and Garlic Pasta Sauce - 5 tablespoons
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
  • Parsley Flakes
  • (optional) - Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:

1. Boil the spaghetti in hot water. The pasta will take around 8-10 minutes to cook since it is whole wheat. If you have specific diet restrictions, cook the pasta until aldente, i.e. still chewy and not too soft. Drain most of the water from the pasta.

2. Heat the pan with extra virgin olive oil.

3. Cook the onions and then add the garlic. Garlic tends to burn easily and so, do watch the heat of the pan.

4. Once the onions and garlic look soft, add the pasta sauce and keep the pan to medium heat.

5. Add the cooked pasta and some of the pasta water to make the sauce. Mix well. (Optional - You can add salt and pepper for taste at this point)

6. Add the cherry tomatoes and turn off the heat when the sauce and pasta has mixed well.

7. Sprinkle the parsley flakes.

8. Eat and enjoy. ;-)

There is also an optional step to this recipe which is to add a bit of skimmed or low fat milk to make the sauce creamy. Also, since this is a vegetarian dish, you can also add meat to the sauce too. The important step is to brown your meat first and then cook your sauce in the same pan.

Also, if you want to add more interesting flavours, here are my suggestions:
  • Toasted pine nuts
  • Fresh parsley instead of dried parsley flakes
  • Fresh basil
Finally.. Here is the result of my quick recipe...

IMG_3858_

Looks good, right? ;-)

4 comments:

  1. Wow! Looks absolutely delicious! Craving for a pasta now! : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi foong,

    Do try it out! Pasta is one of the easiest dishes to cook. Doesn't have too much preparation other than chopping up the garlic and onions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awww...not only it looks healthy. I'm sure it is damn delicious too. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Tekkaus,

    Yeah, it's quite sour and just a nice bit of sweetness from the tomatoes. I think if you add a bit of salt, it would be just right.

    ReplyDelete

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