Beet Tomato Marinara Sauce
Servings: 4 servings
Calories:
Italian Beet Tomato Marinara Sauce (Salsa Marinara di Pomodoro alla Barbabietola) is unusual, but rich, earthy and heart healthy. Beets add natural sweetness, richness and earthiness to this marinara sauce.Beets and tomatoes blend brilliantly. Beetproperties to help lower blood pressure due to their high nitrate content. Tomatoproperties are a source of the antioxidant lycopene linked to many healthbenefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. Combining the twomake one powerfully healthy meal.
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Ingredients
- 8 roma tomatoes see notes
- 1 beet medium, diced small
- 8 sundried tomatoes rehydrated in 1 cup of hot water
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 small shallot
- 1 small garlic clove give black garlic a try
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed crushed to release essence
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast optional
- Additional water for cooking if needed.
Instructions
- Heat a medium cast iron pan over medium heat and add the tomatoes to blacken (see notes). This should take about 5-7 minutes.
- Add diced beets, fennel seed, shallot, garlic, salt, and rehydrated sundried tomatoes with liquid. Cook another 15-20 minutes (or until beets are knife tender as when boiling potatoes) stir often to avoid burning.
- As the ingredients cook the volume will reduce. If this happens and the beets are not fully cooked, add 1/2 cup water at a time to allow for the beets to continue cooking.
- Lastly, add fresh/dried oregano and nutritional yeast if using. Remove from heat and cool slightly before proceeding.
- In the bottom of a high-speed blender, working in batches, carefully transfer the cooled sauce and pureed it. Pour into another saucepan. Continue until all the sauce is pureed. You can reheat it for immediate use to pour sauce over your favorite pasta or store it in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
- Grind fresh pepper over top to serve.
Notes
You can replace roma tomatoes with 2 cans of fire-roasted tomatoes just watch for the sodium levels.
Dice the beets small to quicken their cook time.
Add some nutritional yeast if it tastes too bland for you.
Dice the beets small to quicken their cook time.
Add some nutritional yeast if it tastes too bland for you.
