Angel Hair Pasta with “Molto Beta!” Red Sauce

You don’t have to be Italian to LOVE this typical dish from Italy. This is a new twist on an Italian favorite. By blending sweet roasted carrots and red bell peppers into the red sauce, there is even more to love! Lotsa Beta Carotene!!! Molto Beta!!!

Ingredients

8 oz bag Angel Hair Pasta

or

6 medium zucchini, washed, made into Angel Hair Noodles with the Saladacco Spiral Slicer (as seen above in picture)


Sauce

3 large carrots, washed peeled and sliced into disks
1 red bell pepper, washed, seeded and rough chopped
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste

1 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 large can organic stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Parmesan cheese for garnish

From the kitchen: 1 large pot, 1 sauté pan, 1 roasting dish, blender, strainer

Preheat oven to 350º. While oven is preheating, bring large pot of salted (optional) water to boil for the pasta.

In an oven-safe dish add chopped carrots, chopped red peppers, olive oil and salt. Toss well to coat. Cover with aluminum foil and roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until soft.

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add entire can of stewed tomatoes with juice. If you have purchased whole tomatoes in the can, try to rough chop them before putting them in the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 20 minutes.

When the carrots and red peppers have finished roasting put them in a blender and cover them with about 3 ladles of tomato sauce. Blend until relatively smooth. Pour mixture back into sauté pan and keep warm on medium-low heat. (For a chunkier sauce only add half of the carrots and peppers to the blender, adding the other half to the sauce pan.)

Caution! When blending hot sauces and liquids, only fill the blender up 1/3 of the way and make sure you put your hand over the cover, protecting it with a folded towel.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook as directed on the package. Drain.

Divide the pasta equally between four plates. Add a generous helping of red sauce to each plate, garnishing it with basil leaves and parmesan cheese. Fantastico!

Serves 4 as a main course.

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What can foods rich in beta-carotene do for you?

-Protect your cells from the damaging effects of free radicals
-Provide a source of vitamin A
-Enhance the functioning of your immune system
-Help your reproductive system function properly

What is beta-carotene?

Beta-carotene is probably the most well known of the carotenoids, a phytonutrients family that represents of the one most widespread groups of naturally occurring pigments. It is one of the most abundant carotenoids in the North American diet as well as one of approximately 50 carotenoids known as "provitamin A"compounds, able to be converted in the body into retinol, an active form of vitamin A.

While beta-carotene produces colors in the orange and yellow range, beta-carotene rich foods may be other colors besides from these two. That is because other phytonutrients pigments blend together with the beta-carotene to give the plant food its unique hue that, in addition to orange or yellow, could be other colors including pink, red or white.

Beta-carotene can be found in concentrated amounts in a variety of foods including sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, turnip greens, winter squash, bell peppers, collard greens, cilantro, fresh thyme, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and broccoli.