Easy healthy Italian pasta recipes are a great choice as part of a balanced healthy diet.
This recipe for pasta sauce with diced tomatoes is so delicious no one will even suspect how easy it is.
It actually uses two kinds of tomatoes in this simple sauce – fresh tomatoes plus sun dried tomatoes.
This is my favorite kind of pasta sauce. It’s an olive oil sauce, meaning the olive oil is the predominant ingredient with other wonderful ingredients added for flavor. There are no canned tomatoes in this recipe at all, so you will notice that the pasta still look pretty light colored even with the sauce completed.
An olive oil sauce is one of the most versatile and tasty sauces you can make. Probably the easiest too, because it doesn’t need to be cooked down like tomato sauce.
Whether you are looking for healthy pasta recipes or just want a new tasty pasta sauce recipe for dinner tonight, you’ll want to give this one a try.
It is one of the nicest and easiest penne pasta recipes you will find.
Pasta Sauce with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients
- 2 ripe tomatoes, large, seeded and chopped or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil, extra-virgin
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 pound pasta, penne rigate or your favorite shape
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine fresh and oven-dried tomatoes, oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Marinate at room temperature for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Boil pasta in salted water until al dente, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain well, and while still hot, toss with tomato mixture.
- Coarsely chop basil and combine with pasta. Serve immediately, or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Variation:
- Jazz this recipe up a bit with a few chopped vegetables of your choice. Green, red or yellow peppers work well. Or try chopped zucchini or mushrooms.
For extra nutrition, serve this sauce over whole wheat pasta.
If you are not used to the taste of whole wheat pasta you might find it better if you cook it just an extra minute. Once you get used to whole wheat pasta, you won’t want to change back.
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