I am submitting this recipe Red Capsicum And Tomato Pasta Sauce to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Simona of Briciole
I am 5’7″ (1.68m) and have been this tall since I was 13. At 13 I weighed 49kg and maintained this weight throughout high school and into my twenties. As my then unknown intolerance to sucrose became worse my weight dropped to 44kg. I then went through a stage of weighing between 52 and 44 while the doctors and naturopaths tried to figure out what was wrong with me. As soon as my blood sugar levels stabilized so did my weight. I gained a bit when I gave up smoking and lost a bit when Dave moved to Gordons Bay before I did. But then after the move and a wedding, I was a happy 54kg. Content and lax, this winter has been a shocker. Despite losing weight in France I am now close to the chubbiest I have ever been, and I know I am not fat! But I don’t feel comfortable and so it is diet time for me. My new routine is my resolution for 2012! It has been going on for two months already. I will gym everyday I can and I will start with small steps – 20 minutes of cycling until I’m back to 1 hour of training a day. I will walk more and I will pay attention to my treats. No more milky coffees, no more sandwiches and no cake. I’ll go back to being good for 5 days and letting go on the weekends. I need to be fit and feel better before we leave on our annual holiday. At the same time I am doing my own ‘no red wine and no cheese diet’, Dave is on a restricted carbohydrate diet. For both of us, the diet is working and it is not hard work. We have both lost weight and feel great. But, with no pasta and no potatoes 5 days a week, each pasta dish has to be something special. I can promise, this one is.
Red Tomato and Capsicum Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 red capsicums, cut in half and deseeded
- 15 mls olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 12 baby tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 125 mls stock
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 15 mls tomato paste
Method
- preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- place the capsicums into an ovenproof dish, skin side up
- drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 30 minutes
- remove and place them into a bowl and cover with Clingfilm
- place the tomatoes into the same dish and cook in the oven for 5 minutes
- heat the olive oil in a pot and gently sauté the shallot and garlic until soft
- remove the skins from the capsicums and slice
- add to the pot, together with the tomatoes and any juices
- season and add the stock, cayenne and tomato paste
- bring to the boil and blend until semi smooth
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
This sounds absolutely delicious!!!! A great way to enjoy a simple yet special pasta! where are you and Dave going this year?
This year we are going to Scotland 🙂
it looks good, but i’d need to make it so bland
i envy you the thinness
please don’t – it is mostly genetics 🙂
my genes are for short and fat
The recipe looks delicious. I like your approach with lots of exercise and treating treats as treats. Sounds like it’s all working well 🙂
so far, so good 🙂
Hi Tandy this recipe sounds wonderful & good luck with the “new lifestyle change” baby steps are the way to go.
for sure Usha, and thanks 🙂
Lovely, lovely sauce! And all the best with your very sensible approach to fitness 🙂
thanks Tanya 🙂
Tandy, great idea to make every bite count. I think sometimes I forget what I am eating and need to slow down and appreciate each bite even more!
It is so good to enjoy our meals 🙂
I am the same height. I know that I’m not overweight also, but there comes a moment when you realise that you’re not moving up stairs as easily as you might do, and that’s when I cut back. When I turned 60, the weight seemed to think it should just stick around no matter what I did or didn’t eat. Metabolism. Pshaw.
Dave has just turned 60 and I think he is looking ahead so that he does not end up unfit – and I love him for that 🙂
Good for you Tandy!
I’m on a diet too, but it isn’t working too well 🙁 Keep on the good job!
Hope it gets easier and better 🙂
Tandy your dietary issues sound more than just an intolerance. I’m a glad you have found a solution for you. Loving food like we both do and having food intolerance can be a real obstacle sometimes. We are reading each others minds again. I made something similar to this this week but yours looks so creamy and delicious. Take Care, BAM
this is real serendipity! Have a super day BAM 🙂
I too am trying to reign in the bad eating habits by cutting out the evening carbs, although it has been my very early teens since i saw any figures in the 50’s on my scales! Probably why i threw them out!
Throwing out the scale is a good thing! I have hidden mine under the spare bed 🙂
watching the old waistline is certainly not easy. My daughter and I try to follow the small plate diet. for this diet we still watch the types of food we eat, but we dish up onto a side plate and eat only that. It might sound nuts, but a normal plate can have you eating far more than you need. And to prevent second helpings and picking, I dish up in the kitchen and leave all the extra food there. We’re not so strict that we don’t cheat, but generally we try to keep portion size down 🙂
I have a friend who is doing this small plate diet, and it does work! We also dish up in the kitchen and the only thing I bring to the table is salad – easier to pick on that than get up and dish a second portion 🙂
agreed, although the feta is always mighty tempting and the lettuce less so!
I just leave the feta off 😉
That sauce looks so creamy and delicious – almost as if it has cream in it, so it’s good to know that really it’s so healthy. I remember when I younger it was so easy to lose weight when I put it on but now I seem to creep up by about half a stone every five years!
I think when we were all younger we were far more active as socializing took up energy – now when we socialize it is about sitting around and eating 🙂
Another delicious pasta dish., and it does sound so healthy too. Good luck to you both with the weight loss thingy. xxx
Thanks AD – it is working wonders for me 🙂
This pasta looks great and I’m sure you do too.
thanks Greg, that is so sweet 🙂
The pasta looks delectable, and the sauce…mmm..it’s just flavourful and tasty.
thanks Angie 🙂
Thumbs up for healthy living! Good for you Tandy! 🙂 love the pasta sauce.
thanks so much 🙂
Mmm, that sauce certainly does sound like something special! I rarely eat pasta–but I bet this would be equally amazing over quinoa or a pile of roasted veggies.
I will try something similar over quinoa and report back 🙂
Ooo, I look forward to hearing about it!
Last night I made quinoa with some vegetable stock and I added in roasted beetroot and cumin – it was really good 🙂
Sounds like a perfectly, heavenly reward dish. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights
always a pleasure Ruth 🙂
Kudos to you on losing weight, that’s my eternal battle. I love your rationale of 5 days of goodness and then allowing yourself some treats on the weekend. I will try that!
So far, it has worked for me – hope it works for you 🙂
I can’t believe this sauce has no cream in it, it looks like it’s loaded with it! Beautiful pasta dish..I’d definitely love to try it. As for genetics..I thought I was ok until I gained the frehsman 15 in college and on off mini weight gains and losses since. I guess I’m now gentically medium lol
I love that term, genetically medium – let me know if you make the pasta sauce 🙂
I adore Pasta, so that is always difficult to resist!! I also need to loose a LOT of weight! I hope your diet will be successful! Hugs
just start with 1kg Pink – it makes it way easier 🙂
Good luck on your 2012 resolution. It sounds like you are off to a great and rewarding start. I may add that when the sauce is satisfying, a small portion goes a long way. Thank you for contributing to Presto Past Nights!
thanks Simona, I prefer a little sauce on my pasta as opposed to drenching my pasta in sauce 🙂