Hearty Pastas -Fast and Easy!

What constitutes a hearty and healthy pasta?   With so many choices on the market today, it can be a pretty overwhelming task to shop for this simple and delicious food.  But the team at Club Sauce is here to help by offering the following tips.   

Getting the Right Kind of Pasta:

Depending on what recipe you choose, there is a pasta fit for pairing.  For example, if you are preparing a light, thin sauce, like pesto, use Angel Hair or a thin Spaghetti.  When using thicker sauces like Alfredo, use thicker pastas like Fettuccine.  If you have chunkier vegetable marinara sauce in mind, use Mostaccioli or Radiatore.  

The Pasta Myth:

Many low-carb diets have given pasta a bad name.   The truth is, however, that pasta is an important part of a healthy diet.   Rich in folic acid and vitamin B, pasta dishes are often preferred by athletes like Michael Phelps for energy and endurance.    Eating pasta dishes three times a week can also help you meet the minimum requirements of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid. 

Healthy Ways to Create Pasta Dishes:

1. To cut down on fat, consider using a broth like More Than Gourmet as a base for your sauces instead of cream or butter. 
2. Instead of meat, try adding your favorite vegetables to a marinara or tomato sauce.
3. To enhance and add texture to your favorite creamy pasta sauce, add toasted pine nuts or walnuts.
4. Change it up!  You may be pleasantly surprised by substituting ingredients.  Instead of zucchini, for instance, try eggplant!  
   

Now, we’d like to share the following recipe with you (one of our favorites!).  It’s healthy, simple to make, and simply delicious to eat. With just a few ingredients, you can make this sauce in about the same amount of time it takes to ready the pasta.

Basil Sauce for Pasta recipes adapted from More Than Gourmet

Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 tbs butter
1 cup heavy cream
11/2 oz Veggie-Stock Gold® (More Than Gourmet vegetable stock)***
2 oz fresh basil, chopped
3 tbs sun dried tomatoes, oil packed, drained and julienned
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Melt butter in a sauté pan. Add cream and Veggie-Stock Gold®.
2. Whisk until blended. Add basil, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.
3. Add sauce to pasta and toss.
   

Cooking Tips

***These items are all available on the www.clubsauce.com website if they cannot be purchased at your local gourmet shop.  Please be sure to try our fabulous recipes and professional line of More Than Gourmet demi glace and stocks. We carry four different demi glace and over twelve different stocks, including fish, seafood/lobster, chicken, beef, veal, lamb, turkey, duck and more. They're simple, easy to use products that will add a natural richness and depth of flavor to all your favorite sauces, soups, stews, rice and pasta dishes, stir-fry, braising liquids and more.

You can find many more expert tips and recipes at www.clubsauce.com/recipes .  And if you have any questions or comments, please contact us.  We would love to hear from fellow sauce enthusiasts at 888-560-3562.

For more information and to purchase pomegranate reduction sauces, please visit www.clubsauce.com