All tagged Tomato Sauce

Shakshuka-Eggs Poached in a Tomato Stew

Shakshuka-Eggs Poached in a Tomato Stew

Chelsea Gloeckner
Blog

Shakshuka is the fancy name for a one-skillet dish of eggs poached in a tomato stew or sauce.  While shakshuka originated in North Africa, it is now a breakfast favorite in Israel.  While you can certainly wow your friends and family at a weekend breakfast or brunch, I prefer to make it as an easy weeknight dinner.  Shakshuka is warm and comforting at the end of a workday 😊  Serve with crusty bread, or my favorite way, over brown rice with a drizzle of good olive oil!

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

What (your ingredients):

1 tablespoon avocado oil

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 zucchini, diced small

1 yellow squash, diced small

1 bell pepper, diced small

5-6 Roma tomatoes, diced small

1 head of kale, roughly chopped

 Salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 15-oz. can tomato sauce

½ cup water

4 eggs

How (your directions):

In a medium cast-iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add shallots and cook 3-4 minutes until translucent.

Add diced zucchini, squash, pepper, tomatoes, kale, and salt.  Sauté for 5 minutes until vegetables begin to brown slightly.

Add garlic and cumin and sauté for 1 minute.

Add tomato sauce and ½ cup water, then simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Using the back of a wooden spoon (or just a spoon or ladle), create four wells for the eggs.

Crack an egg carefully to keep the yolk intact and gently allow egg to slip into one of the wells.

Repeat for remaining three eggs.

Cover and allow to simmer until eggs are cooked to desired doneness (about 10 minutes).

Serve hot over brown rice with a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkle of salt!

Why (the science):  You may know that tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which is protective against prostate cancer, but did you know that the more processed the tomato is, the more lycopene there is?  Canned tomato sauce and tomato paste have a higher lycopene content than raw tomatoes!

Easy Tomato and Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Easy Tomato and Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Chelsea Gloeckner
Blog

This Easy Tomato and Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce is seriously the easiest and quickest pasta sauce ever.  Chop some tomatoes and bell peppers, simmer, add a punch of flavor with pesto and-BOOM!-dinner is ready!  Yep, that’s all it takes to make a dinner that doubles as a hot or cold pasta salad to take to work/school for lunch during the rest of the week 😊

Serves: 6

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

What (your ingredients):

1 lb. short pasta

2 cups tomatoes, roughly chopped (I used yellow/red/orange cherry tomatoes and orange heirloom tomatoes)

1 yellow pepper, roughly chopped

1 orange pepper, roughly chopped

½ cup water

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon pesto

How (your directions):

Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt to the salinity of the ocean (this ensures flavorful cooked pasta).  Cook pasta according to pasta directions, then drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, add tomatoes, peppers, a pinch of salt, and the ½ cup of water. 

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove lid and reduce liquid slightly for 5 minutes.

Transfer sauce to blender and add pesto.  Blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pour sauce back into the saucepan and mix pasta into sauce over low heat, to finish heating through.

Serve immediately!  Also delicious cold for lunch 😊

Why (the science):  Bell peppers are full of vitamin C, A, and folate!  Not to mention, this Easy Tomato and Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce has ZERO sugar, a characteristic hard to find in most store-bought pasta sauces.

 

Eggplant and Mushroom Bolognese

Eggplant and Mushroom Bolognese

Chelsea Gloeckner
Blog

This bolognese recipe is my new favorite pasta creation, because it really has the flavor and texture of a classic Italian meat sauce.  Mushrooms and eggplant are often used to replace meat, so when they are diced finely and sautéed with Italian seasoning, the result is a phenomenal sauce that you’ll love more than the meat version!  Don’t leave out the tomato paste, as it creates a richness in flavor that can’t be missed!

Serving Size: 4 portions

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

What (your ingredients):

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ large yellow onion, finely diced

Dash of salt

1 eggplant

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 8.oz package baby bella mushrooms

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Cracked black pepper to taste

1 jar favorite tomato sauce

4 oz. spaghetti

How (your directions):

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously (pasta water should taste like the saltiness of the ocean).

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat and sauté onions with a pinch of salt until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.

Cut eggplant into a small dice and add to onions.  Push onions and eggplant to one side of the fry pan.  Add the tomato paste directly to the heat and allow to cook for one minute.  Then, stir all ingredients together and continue to sauté.

Add spaghetti to boiling, salted water and cook to al dente or 1 minute shorter than package instructions (about 7 minutes).

Finely dice the mushrooms and add to vegetable mixture.  Add Italian seasoning, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.

When mushrooms have browned, add jar of your favorite tomato sauce and reduce heat to low.

Add 1 ladle of pasta water to sauce before draining water (the starch of pasta water thickens the sauce).

Serve the eggplant and mushroom Bolognese over spaghetti with a drizzle of olive oil and a few basil leaves.

Bon appétit!

Why (the science):  Did you know that eggplant can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol!?