Taking advantage of the benefits of tomato

Tomatoes are a great source of antioxidants and phytochemicals, both of which are associated with reducing the risk of cancer. There are many other benefits such as being rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium, good for the heart, diabetes, eyes and bone health.

I’m not against industrialized ready-to-eat tomato sauce or extract, but without a doubt, the natural one is much healthier, mainly because it doesn’t have preservatives and excess sodium. But those looking for practicality, just read the label, there are some that are just tomatoes, it’s really worth it in the rush of everyday life.

My tomato sauce recipe is quick, practical if you make a good amount and leave it in the fridge. You don’t need to spend hours figuring it out, it’s very tasty and without acidity, as it uses carrots. Yes! Carrots and zucchini, the rest is creativity.

Come on, get to work!

Ingredients:

5 whole ripe tomatoes or 1 can of peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 unpeeled onion
1 unpeeled carrot
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
1/3 bell pepper of your choice
Salt, oregano, paprika and black pepper to taste
1L of water or chicken or beef broth

Method of preparation:

There aren’t many secrets or mysteries, just clean everything, preferably with bleach, wash well, put everything in a blender and blend until there are no lumps. Place in a pan and let it cook until the vegetables are well cooked. There are people who like it more like a sauce, so it’s ready quickly, but you can let it cook more and it’s like an extract. This amount yields on average 1L and 1/2 of sauce or +/- 1L of extract.
Store in glass pots, they last on average 20 days in the fridge.

Tips:
– To “taste”, before putting it in the pot, add basil in one, olives in the other, coriander in the other…
– You can use other vegetables too, such as pumpkin, beets. The cool thing is that it adds fiber to the sauce and helps a lot with daily consumption.
– If you like a more rustic sauce, don’t beat the onion and garlic, just chop them.
– If you leave it well refined as an extract, you can spread it on bread and eat it with cheese, like a “caprese bread”.
– It is delicious with poached egg in its own sauce, called Shakshuka.

Enjoy!

Article written for the newspaper A Cidade Ubatuba