Creamy Tomato & Basil Spaguetti
Prep time: 5 minutes / Cooking time: 20 min
Serves 4
This recipe is vegetarian
INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp oil
1 small onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
500g tomato passata
125g ricotta
Handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
320g spaghetti
Salt & pepper to taste
METHOD:
1. Add oil to medium size frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the diced onions and stir often over a medium heat until soft.
2. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the tomato passata, bring to a simmer and cook on low heat for 12 to 15 minutes.
4. While the tomato sauce simmers, cook the pasta. Bring a large pan of water to the boil; add the pasta, stir and cook following manufacturer’s instructions.
5. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the ricotta cheese and chopped basil, stir to mix well until the cheese is melted and you have a smooth sauce. Check for seasoning.
6. Add the pasta to the cheesy tomato sauce and mix it well.
7. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and some grated cheese (optional) and serve with a side salad.
TIPS:
✓ You could use chopped tomatoes instead of tomato passata; the result will just be a chunkier sauce.
✓ If you do not have any ricotta, you could use cream cheese instead.
✓ If you do not have spaghetti use fusilli or penne pasta instead.
✓ Dry herbs work well too instead of fresh basil. You could use dried oregano, basil or even mixed herbs.
✓ Turn this recipe gluten free by using gluten free pasta instead, like corn spaghetti or red lentil penne.
✓ Cooking pasta: it is recommended that pasta be cooked in at least 10 or more times its weight in water (around 5 litres of water per 500g of pasta). To avoid the pasta sticking together stir the pasta often during the first minutes of cooking. Adding salt to the water not only flavours the pasta but helps to prevent stickiness too. After cooking you can minimise the pasta sticking together by rinsing the pasta under cold water (ideal if making a pasta salad), adding some oil and mixing it through or mixing the pasta with a sauce as soon as they are cooked (like in this recipe).
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Nutrition per serving, based on 4 servings per recipe with no added salt:
Serving of 280g creamy tomato & basil spaghetti
Energy 448Kcal
Fat 10.63g
Saturates 3.14g
Carbs 71.92g
Sugars 0.49g
Fibre 4.31g
Protein 13.8g
Salt 0.79g
Serving of 80g side salad (lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes & radishes):
Kcal 9.64
Fat 0.18g
Saturates 0.04g
Carbs 1.51g
Sugars 0g
Fibre 0.56g
Protein 0.53g
Salt 0.01g
Tomato passata is packed full of the goodness from tomatoes. Tomatoes are a good source of potassium, vitamin C, beta-carotene (the body converts this to vitamin A) and lycopene, a natural antioxidant known to have many health benefits.
Garlic & onions are among the vegetables highest in antioxidants and have been shown to help cholesterol levels.
Spaghetti is the main source of carbohydrate in this recipe. Carbohydrates provide the body with energy. You could use wholewheat pasta instead to increase the fibre content and lower the glycaemic index of the meal. Lowering the glycaemic index of meal means that your body will get a nice constant stream of energy from the meal instead of an energy spike. Foods with lower glycaemic index also tend to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
The side salad will provide a portion of vegetables. The tomato passata and onion is also a source of vegetables.
The ricotta cheese adds a source of protein and little fat.
