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Healthy Pasta Sauces Healthy Pasta Sauces From "Ask DIY Cooking & Entertaining" episode DADC-107

Pasta sauce made with fresh tomatoes.

Q: What's the secret to delicious pasta sauce?

A: (from DIY's Dr. Gourmet) As with most recipes, the secret to good sauce is to start with good ingredients. Here are two recipes that start with good ingredients, and you end up with terrific sauces that are also healthy. The first is a tomato sauce. The second is a basil pesto.

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Tomato Sauce

• For the tomato sauce, start with fresh tomatoes. We used tomatoes on the vine (figure A). To make 5 cups of sauce, you'll need 4 pounds of tomatoes.

• Boil some water and reduce to shiver, put a few tomatoes in at a time. Leave each tomato in the boiling water for about minute -- until their skins become easy peel off (figure B).

• Seed them and chop them coarsely.

• If you're making the sauce when tomatoes aren't in season, you might be better off using two cans of canned tomatoes. When buying canned tomatoes look for those that are peeled and seeded. The process for here on out is the same whether you're using the fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes.

• In a large skillet heat a tablespoon of olive oil and saute 6 cloves of minced garlic.

• Cook for about 3 minutes.

• Add one small diced onion.

• Add the tomatoes (figure C) and cook until soft -- for about an hour.(With the fresh ones, it may take a little longer.)

• Remove from heat, salt and puree. For the sauce made with canned tomatoes, add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. For the fresh tomatoes add one teaspoon of salt.

  Tip: Adding the salt toward the end of the cooking process i results in a saltier flavor without having to add as much salt.

• Serve over pasta (figure D). Sprinkle on a little fresh parmesan cheese if you like, and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.

• We used 2 ounces of pasta and about a cup of sauce per serving.

  With parmesan added, this recipe has about 300 to 325 calories.

	This fresh pesto sauce with pasta contains only about 96 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving
	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G