August means tomatoes. If you have a garden or frequent area farmers markets, you no doubt have ripe summer tomatoes at hand. What follows is a flavorful sauce to make and freeze in batches to preserve those tomatoes of summer.
The recipe is adapted from “FitDelicious,” a new self-published book from Marcia Schurer, a Chicago-based food industry consultant. Subtitled “Lose the Pounds, Not the Taste,” the book includes information on nutrition, exercise and shopping for good health, as well as many charts and graphs on calorie and nutritional content of foods and shopping lists. It’s available online at fitdelicious.com.
Red bell pepper tomato sauce
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 55 minutes
Makes: 3 1/2 cups
2 pounds ripe beefsteak or plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
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1/8 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper
1. Fill a large saucepan with water; heat to a boil. Add the tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Drain; rinse with cold water. Remove the outer skin from the tomatoes quickly, using tongs. Core the tomatoes, cut into eighths if beefsteak tomatoes or cut into halves if plum tomatoes. Squeeze out the seeds. Chop coarsely.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the red peppers; cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes; turn heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender and the tomatoes are cooked, 35-40 minutes. Cool slightly. Puree the sauce in a blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition information
Per 1/4 cup serving: 56 calories, 31% of calories from fat, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 9 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 44 mg sodium, 2 g fiber