Pasta with Tomato, Chard and Sunflower Seed Sauce

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon canola oil
8 ounces onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1 can tomato paste, (6 ounce)
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon salt, optional
freshly ground pepper
8 ounces fresh chard
1 pound linguine

Substitutions: 1 can (28 ounce) crushed or whole, peeled tomatoes with juice. Use any long, thin pasta.

Prepare the chard: wash, remove ribs, and cut crosswise into 1-inch ribbons. In a large saucepan or sauté pan, toast seeds until very lightly browned. In food processor or nut grinder, grind half of the seeds until very fine. Reserve remaining half for garnish. Heat oil in the pan. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened. Add garlic and cook briefly. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, ground sunflower seeds, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer about 15 minutes until somewhat thickened. Steam chard until tender, about 5 minutes. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain; remove to serving platter. Toss with sauce.

Top with remaining sunflower seeds.