One of the greatest pleasures of summer is the intense flavor of the fruits and vegetables of the season. Without a lot of dressing up or long, slow cooking, they can be turned into simple, pleasurable meals.
Here is a quick tomato sauce - done in 15 minutes - that should be made with whatever are the best tomatoes at the moment.The cream in the original recipe for this sauce became a yogurt-ricotta mixture that provides the same rich feel with far fewer calories and much less fat.
The trick is not to cook the yogurt and ricotta, or the mixture will separate. Remove them from the refrigerator before you start the meal to take the chill off.
For the salad, any fruit-based vinegar works well, and if you do not have walnut or hazelnut oil, use a fruity olive oil.
GAME PLAN
Boil water for pasta.
Prepare onion and cook with garlic.
Chop tomatoes and add to onions.
Chop oregano and add with pepper to onions.
Cook pasta.
Make salad.
Blend yogurt and ricotta.
Drain pasta; add yogurt mixture to sauce and spoon over pasta.
NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS
Per serving: 750 calories; 22 grams fat; 86 milligrams cholesterol; 680 milligrams sodium; 35 grams protein; 95 grams carbohydrates
FROM YOUR PANTRY
Olive oil
Minced garlic in oil
Whole black pepper
Non-fat yogurt
Walnut or hazelnut oil
Raspberry vinegar
SHOPPING LIST
12 ounces whole onion or 11 ounces chopped (ready-cut)
1 pound ripe field tomatoes
Bunch fresh oregano (1 1/2 tablespoons)
Carton low-fat ricotta (1/2 cup)
8 or 9 ounces fresh tortellini, ravioli or agnolotti
2 eating oranges
1 small red onion (two or three slices)
Note: Look for ricotta with just one gram of fat per ounce.
Tortellini with Creamy Tomato Sauce
12 ounces whole onion or 11 ounces chopped (ready-cut) (2 1/4 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic in oil
1 pound ripe field tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 or 9 ounces fresh tortellini, ravioli or agnolotti
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat ricotta Bring 3 quarts water to boil in covered pot for pasta.
Chop whole onion into medium dice.
Heat oil in non-stick pan and saute onion in oil until it begins to brown. Stir often. After a few minutes add garlic.
Chop tomatoes and add to onion. Cook over high heat to soften tomatoes and evaporate liquid.
Chop oregano and stir into tomato mixture. Season with pepper.
Cook pasta.
Blend yogurt and ricotta in food processor to smooth mixture.
Drain pasta.
Remove sauce from heat and lightly stir in yogurt-ricotta mixture. Pour over pasta. (Serves two.)
Orange and Onion Salad
2 eating oranges
2 or 3 slices red onion
1 1/2 teaspoons walnut or hazelnut oil or fruity olive oil
1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste Peel oranges and slice.
Slice onions thinly and separate into rings. Arrange on salad plates with orange slices.
Beat oil and vinegar together and drizzle over salads. Season with pepper. (Serves two.)
1990 by Foxcraft Ltd.
Excerpted from "20-Minute Menus," by
Marian Burros (Reprinted by permission
of Simon and Schuster; distributed by
Special Features/Syndication Sales)