Olive Oil Hunter News #232

Farfalle with Creamy Tomato Ricotta Sauce Recipe, Spotlight on the Basil Family, High-Speed Blenders, Understanding Ultra-Processed Foods and Better Balance 

Take advantage with this delicious tomato sauce recipe while farm stands still have fresh tomatoes for sale, though I will say it’s almost as good made with hothouse cherry tomatoes available all year long. Eating seasonally is always a top goal and can help you avoid many ultra-processed foods—read the highlights of the American Heart Association’s advisory about these packaged products to help you make the good choices for better health. 

Farfalle with Creamy Tomato Ricotta Sauce

• Farfalle with Creamy Tomato Ricotta Sauce

  While there’s a place for slowly simmered red sauce, I love how quickly this version comes together, enriched with extra virgin olive oil and ricotta cheese. 

  Ingredients

  • Coarse sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 1/2 cup grated yellow onions 
  • 4 cups cherry tomatoes 
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 fresh basil sprigs
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more to taste
  • 1 pound farfalle or another pasta of similar size
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

  Directions

  Step 1

  Bring a large pot of water and a tablespoon of salt to a boil just before you start the sauce. 

  Step 2

  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil, onions, and a sprinkling of salt. Cook until the onions become translucent. Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, sugar, and crushed red pepper, and sauté until the tomatoes burst, stirring constantly. Put the pasta in the boiling water at this point and cook until al dente, according to package directions. 

  Step 3

  Continue cooking the tomatoes for a few more minutes, just until their liquid starts to reduce. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a high-speed blender and process to a smooth sauce, about 30 seconds (start at a low speed and increase gradually to avoid splatter). Pour the sauce back in the skillet and, over medium heat, stir in the ricotta. 

  Step 4

  Use a large Chinese strainer to transfer the pasta to the skillet and coat with the sauce. Ladle into deep bowls, sprinkle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and drizzle with olive oil.

  Yields 4 to 6 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Basil: Meet the Family

Many people keep basil growing year-round, moving a pot from the garden to a windowsill. But you might be surprised to learn that there are some 150 different basil varieties and that you might prefer one over another…or decide to grow two or more for the different tastes they impart. Here’s a quick rundown of the more common types available:

• Genovese basil, with its large, rounded leaves and intense taste, is arguably the most popular basil grown. 
  
• Sweet basil, as its name implies, has a milder taste; its leaves are lighter in color and pointier than Genovese.
  
• Greek basil has rounded leaves smaller than Genovese and usually an even more intense taste. 
  
• Thai sweet basil has beautiful pointy green leaves, yet its stalks and flowers are a deep purple. Used in Thai and other South Asian cuisines, it adds layers of taste to dishes.

Quick Kitchen Nugget

High-Speed Blenders

Food processors changed the way we cook, making so many recipes effortless. Traditional blenders with a small bottom blade couldn’t compete on volume. But with today’s high-speed blenders, many recipes are being shaken up all over again. When it comes to making smoothies, instant sorbets, and large quantities of sauces, blenders with a motor power output of 1,000 watts or more are unbeatable. Some double as a crushed-ice machine and can also grind nuts and seeds in seconds. If you’re in the market for a new blender, check out models from Ninja, Vitamix, and Blendtec. Yes, they’re pricey, but some come with attachments that look like traditional food processor bowls, giving you two appliances in the space of one.  

For Your Best Health

Understanding Ultra-Processed Foods

Last week in The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter, I shared a study that found dieters who followed a diet of minimally processed foods lost twice the weight of those who ate mostly ultra-processed foods (UPFs) even though they all consumed the same number of calories. A new American Heart Association Science Advisory has detailed even more concerns surrounding UPFs. 

The advisory, “Ultraprocessed Foods and Their Association with Cardiometabolic Health: Evidence, Gaps and Opportunities,” summarizes current knowledge about UPFs and their impact on cardiometabolic health, and outlines opportunities for research, policy, and regulatory reform to improve dietary intake and overall health. It was published in Circulation, the flagship journal of the American Heart Association.

Advisory highlights:

• Most UPFs, including sugar-sweetened drinks, ultra-processed meats, refined grains, candies, and commercial baked goods, are characterized by poor nutritional quality, contributing to excessive calories, and are typically high in saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium, which contribute to adverse cardiometabolic health outcomes, including heart attack, stroke, obesity, inflammation, type 2 diabetes, and vascular complications.
  
• Observational studies have found links between eating higher amounts of UPFs and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, chronic illness, and mortality.
  
• Emerging evidence also suggests certain additives and industrial processing techniques may have negative health effects.
  
• However, not all UPFs are junk foods or have poor nutritional quality. A limited number, such as certain commercial whole grains, low-fat-low-sugar dairy, and some plant-based items, have positive nutritional value and, therefore, can be part of an overall healthy dietary pattern.
  
• Experts recommend multilevel strategies, including more research to uncover how UPFs specifically impact the body, refining dietary guidance to discourage excessive consumption of nutrient-poor UPFs, clarifying the impact of the limited number of UPFs with more-favorable nutrition profiles, more research on the health impacts of food additives, and evidence-based policies to evaluate and regulate food additives.

“The relationship between UPFs and health is complex and multifaceted,” said Maya K. Vadiveloo, PhD, RD, FAHA, volunteer chair of the writing group for this Science Advisory. “We know that eating foods with too much saturated fat, added sugars, and salt is unhealthy. What we don’t know is if certain ingredients or processing techniques make a food unhealthy above and beyond their poor nutritional composition, and if certain additives and processing steps used to make healthier food like commercial whole grain breads have any health impact.”

The rapid rise in UPF consumption since the 1990s disrupted traditional dietary patterns, potentially contributing to adverse health effects. It is estimated that 70% of grocery store products in the US contain at least one ultra-processed ingredient. As detailed in a CDC report published on August 7, 2025, 55% of calories consumed by people ages 1 and older in the US come from UPFs. Among children ages 1 to 18 years of age, total UPF calories jumped to nearly 62%, and among adults ages 19 and older, it’s 53%. In addition, families with a lower mean income had a higher percentage of UPFs consumed per day: 54.7% for the lowest income group versus 50.4% for the highest income group.

UPFs are relatively inexpensive, convenient, and aggressively marketed, particularly toward youngsters and those living in under-resourced communities, often displacing healthier alternatives. This shift resulted in lowering the overall nutritional quality of typical eating patterns in the US and is misaligned with the American Heart Association’s dietary guidance.

A meta-analysis of prospective studies cited in the Advisory found a dose-response relationship between UPF consumption and cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and all-cause mortality. High versus low UPF intake was linked to a 25% to 58% higher risk of cardiometabolic outcomes and a 21% to 66% higher risk of mortality. More research is needed to understand the appropriate thresholds for daily consumption of UPFs, including what a safe amount is and the incremental risks of eating more UPFs.

Research has also found that UPFs may promote obesity. UPFs frequently contain combinations of ingredients and additives to enhance palatability, and these may influence reward-related brain activity. For example, ingredients like artificial flavors may mimic sweetness without sugar, and this disruption in flavor-nutrient relationships often leads to irregular eating habits and results in weight gain.

“More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms of how UPFs impact health. In the meantime, the Association continues to urge people to cut back on the most harmful UPFs, [which] are high in saturated fats, added sugars and sodium, and excessive calories, and instead follow a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and whole grains; low-fat-low-sugar dairy; and lean proteins like fish, seafood, or poultry for better short- and long-term health,” said Dr. Vadiveloo.

Fitness Flash

Be in Better Balance 

Of all the motor skills that contribute to mobility, balance is probably the most overlooked. And as we age, balance—along with strength training—becomes even more important. The American Council on Exercise stresses training both stability and mobility in a variety of planes of motion and positions to maximize your ability to perform everyday activities. 

According to experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, having a hard time or feeling unsteady when doing activities such as squatting down, standing up from a chair, or simply walking can increase the risk of falling. Exercises that call for strength and balance can help. Always talk to your doctor or a physical therapist first before starting any new exercises, especially if you have weak balance. 

Here’s a progressive exercise sequence that they suggest for people who have a low risk of falling and are able to stand on their own without support from others but in the beginning, stand in a corner or at a kitchen counter in case you start losing your balance and need a wall or counter to steady yourself.

1. Feet apart: Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, eyes open. Hold steady for 10 seconds, working your way up to 30 seconds. If you find yourself swaying or reaching for the wall or counter frequently, just keep working on this exercise until you can do it with minimal swaying or support. Once you can hold this position firmly for 30 seconds, move on to the next exercise.

2. Feet together: Stand with feet together, eyes open. Hold steady 10 seconds, working your way up to 30 seconds. Once you can do this exercise for 30 seconds with minimal swaying or support, move on to the next one.

3. One foot: Stand on one foot, eyes open. Hold steady 10 seconds, working up to 30 seconds. Switch feet and repeat.

4. Eyes closed: If you can perform the first three exercises safely and with little support, try to do each one with your eyes closed. Hold for 10 seconds, working up to 30 seconds.

You can repeat each exercise up to 5 times per session and build up to repeating the sequence twice a day.

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