5:2 Diet - Simple Tomato Sauce

In my opinion, you just can't beat a simple, fresh tomato sauce on pasta. It just sings with flavour. It's also a low calorie sauce, which is great if you are on a diet.

For those of you who don't know, I'm following the 5:2 diet. I'm finding it really easy and I've lost half a stone so far, which is pretty good considering I was on holiday a couple of weeks ago and that week was filled with restaurant meals and lots of wine. I seem to be losing 1lb a week.

Here is a wee overview of the diet:

5:2 Diet Explained

1. Our bodies have  a growth hormone called IGF -1. As a child this is what helps our bodies grow, but as adults it ages us.
2. High levels of IGF-1 can lead to diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
3. Lowering your levels of IGF-1 can help prevent against these diseases and can be done through your diet.
4. When lowering your IGF-1 levels, growth stops and your body starts to repair cells. It also uses up your glucose and starts to burn fat, so you also lose weight.

 Following the 5:2 Diet

1. To follow the 5:2 diet a man should eat under 600 calories and a woman should eat under 500 calories twice a week.
2. These days should not be taken together.
3. You can spread the calories out over the day. There isn't enough research to tell us how we should spread these calories out.
4. Drink lost of water and/or green tea.
5. On your 5 non-fast days you can eat normally.

I prefer to leave most of my calories until the evening, but you have to do what works best for you.

I often have Heinz squeeze and stir Minestrone Soup for lunch. It's so handy to take to work. It's a concentrated soup. You just squeeze it into a cup and top up with boiling water. It's filling and only 77 calories. If I have this for lunch, I have plenty of calories left to have a piece of fruit in the afternoon and a decent meal at night. It's great for those days when you just aren't prepared!

This pasta dish is quite substantial for an evening meal.  I used a third of the tomato sauce served on 60g (50 pieces of penne, yes I counted it for you, you can thank me later!)

The sauce has 63 calories per portion and 60g of penne has 213 calories, which is 276 calories in total.

If you have saved more calories over the day, you can have a bigger portion.

I would recommend dividing the sauce into three and freezing two of the portions in separate containers so you have a portion ready for a fast day. The sauce freezes well.

Try this sauce with Vegan Chickpea 'Meatballs'

print recipe

Simple Tomato Sauce

Written by Jacqueline Meldrum

October 15, 2012

This beautifully simple sauce has 190 calories, that's just 63 calories per portion. There is enough to generously serve two. If you are having a more modest portion, it will happily serve three.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• a few leaves fresh basil, finely chopped or torn
• a good grinding of salt & black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Saute the onion until it is soft and translucent. If it sticks a little, add a splash of water.2. Add the tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until thick.3. Season with salt and pepper and add the fresh basil.4. Serve over freshly cooked pasta.

Details

Total time: 30 mins
Yield: Serves 3

Calorie breakdown

Tomato Sauce

Serves 3

1 tsp olive oil = 40 calories
1 medium onion = 44 calories
1 clove of garlic = 4 calories
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes = 88 calories
1 tbsp tomato puree = 14 calories

Total  = 190 calories
Total calories per serving = 63 calories

Penne Pasta

uncooked weight

60g (50 pieces) = 213 calories

Penne Pasta and Sauce 

276 calories

TRY THIS NEXT

Tomato and Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce

If you like this recipe try my Tomato and Roasted Pepper Pasta Sauce, which comes in at 108 calories per portion. Serve with a mixture of courgette noodles and spaghetti, to cut down on the pasta calories.


Disclosure: I have not been sponsored by Heinz, nor do I have any relationship with them. I am just passing on my own tips.