Making tasty red sauce pasta is a snap if you know about the secret ingredients that professional chefs use every day. The good news is that the undisclosed ingredient in this recipe is also a very healthy one. Amplify the flavors with natural remedies, and you will get the best results. Unfortunately, it is usually the opposite with most commercial products. Food manufacturers and fast-food companies rely heavily on taste-improving agents. The most famous one is MSG (monosodium glutamate). They call these chemical salts the essential taste enhancers. What you really need are lifesavers, very much like the one that I will reveal today. We’ll get into the details. But first, let me give you some heads up about today’s recipe.
Pasta is a way of life in the Mediterranean. For everywhere else, it is a convenient, tasty, and quick meal. It is incredible that you will find some kinds of noodles where ever you visit on the planet. An indispensable dish of Italian cuisine, the legendary pasta was originally produced in China from rice flour. We should be all thankful to Marco Polo for spreading this splendid feast to the world. Regardless of who invented the pasta, the version we consume today is probably an outcome of a long transformation that mostly took place in Italy.
Tasty Red Sauce Pasta with Special Ingredient
This red sauce is not your typical marinara. It contains usual suspects such as garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil. However, I add beet juice, lemon juice, turmeric powder, and red bell peppers to tweak the flavor to a completely different route. Besides, I use fettuccine instead of regular pasta. Doing so is optional. Please note that any type would work. It is just that the fettuccine (Popular in Tuscan and Roman cuisine) contains eggs that make it tastier with any thick sauce.
Be open-minded, please!
I believe we can enhance the taste with natural remedies. That’s why I always stay away from chemically developed salts and artificial colors. Nature itself is full of hidden treasures if you have the eyes for it. Keep in mind that improving flavor also requires you to be open-minded. For young children and teenagers, it might be ok to dislike or resist some food varieties. However, if you want to be a real chef (pro or amateur), you need to free your taste buds. Challenge yourself by building a solid bridge between your tongue and brain. In most cases, it takes some time to apprehend and cherish the value of a new flavor. And, of course, that’s only my opinion.
The secret ingredient: Beet Juice
I balance this red sauce with beet juice and honey. Besides having a very distinctive taste and powerful color, beet juice is extremely healthy. You are not only making your sauce tastier; you are also making it healthier. Beet juice helps reduce blood pressure, supports your liver, may prevent cancer, may slow dementia, and may help to maintain a healthy weight. 1 2 3 It is an energy booster with no fat and low calories! Make sure you add some beet juice, fresh beet, or pickled beets whenever you cook something red! However, this sauce has another energy booster ingredient. Did you know that red bell peppers contain more vitamin C than oranges?
Making pasta is easy, but it gets even easier if you use a special pot with strainer lid. This one is a bestseller from Bialetti. It cooks pasta the right way and evenly. Just twist and lock the lid when you are ready to drain. The company manufactured this pot from nonstick material. It comes in different colors with 5-Quart capacity.
How to Make Tasty Red Sauce Pasta | Secret Ingredient
Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes10
minutes130
kcal34
hours30
minutesIngredients
1 package (16 Oz – 454 g) fettuccine pasta
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, sliced in halves
2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly (remove the seeds)
2 sweet red peppers (add more bell peppers if you don’t have it)
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons beet juice (you can also use pickled beet juice)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 bunch fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
Salt and ground pepper to taste
- Optional:
1/4 cup carrot juice (you can also add sliced carrot ribbons)
Directions
- Pour water into a large sauce pan and bring it to a boil.
- Add a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of olive oil.
- Add the fettuccine and cook according to package instructions.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the fettuccine.
- Making the red sauce:
- Add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan.
- Add the sliced garlic and sauté until they turn golden.
- Add the diced tomatoes and continue to cook over low heat.
- Once the tomatoes are softened, add one tablespoon of tomato paste and blend well.
- Add the sliced red peppers.
- Pour in 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Add one tablespoon of honey and stir well.
- Add the turmeric powder.
- Continue to cook until the sauce gets thicker.
- Pour in the lemon juice and the beet juice.
- Stir well and remove from heat.
- Serve over warm pasta and decorate with sliced basil ribbons.
Notes
- If you add one tablespoon pepper paste and ¼ cup orange juice to the sauce, you will have a more acidic flavor.
- Add fresh peach to tweak the flavor. Slice one peach into half-inch cubes and sauté with tomatoes.
How can I make my tomato sauce taste better?
Pasta is a famous dish of Italian cuisine, which relies heavily on garlic-infused olive oil. There is no need to be a rocket science to figure out that a combination of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil will turn your pasta into a feast. However, adding red bell peppers, ground cayenne pepper, and some beet juice can dramatically improve the eye appeal and taste when making red pasta or marinara sauce. Start by sautéing 2-3 garlic cloves (sliced or crushed) in extra virgin olive oil. Add 2 tablespoons of diced red bell peppers and one small white onion (sliced thinly) to the pan. Let it simmer until all turn golden color and the bell peppers get softened. Turn off the heat and add 2 teaspoons red beet juice (or 1/2 teaspoon dried red beet, or 1 tablespoon pickled red beet juice), 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon tomato paste (or pureed tomato) to the pan. Blend well with a spatula. Pour the mixture on freshly boiled pasta, stir, and serve immediately.