Thrifty pasta sauce

Serves: 4

Time to make: 40 mins

Ingredients

More weights & measures

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 sticks celery

2 courgettezucchiniXszucchini, summer squashX, chopped

1 capsicum, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 x 400g cans tomatoes

½ teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon basil pesto or 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 handful fresh basil leaves, torn

¼ teaspoon dried chilli (optional)

black olives (optional)

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Instructions

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1 Heat oil in a frying pan or saucepan. Gently fry the onions and garlic. When soft, add the vegetables cook 5-10 minutes.

2 Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, pesto and chilli. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender and flavours are developed (10-20 minutes).

3 Add olives and serve over cooked pasta or with meatballs, use in a calzone or serve over ravioli.

Variations

Add a dash of wine.
Add a couple of chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
Add other vegetables such as asparagus tips, spinach, roasted vegetables.
Use blanched fresh tomatoes instead of tinned tomatoes.

HFG tip

A homemade pasta sauce may have obvious chunks of tomato, but you can easily conceal vegetables left over from a previous meal – simply purée them before adding to the sauce.
Think of the sauce as a base and use your imagination. This is so easy and inexpensive, you need never open a jar of sauce for pasta again.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 141 cal

Kilojoules 590 kJ

Protein 6.9 g

Total fat 7.3 g

Saturated fat 1.4 g

Carbohydrates 12 g

Sugar 11 g

Dietary fibre 3.5 g

Sodium 620 mg

Calcium 80 mg

Iron 2.1 mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.