RECIPE : Quick Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce: basic principles

• Chopped tinned tomatoes are a very versatile ingredient for sauces, but you can also use  whole tinned tomatoes and squash them with a potato masher or even used a tin or bottle of tomato passata.

• Alternatively use very ripe fresh tomatoes for your sauce. To prepare simply pop them onto a small baking tray with a clove or two of garlic, dribble over a glug or two of olive oil and bake them until the tomatoes go brown and juicy.  Remove from the oven, put a blitzer through the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper for the most delicious sauce results.

• To make the sauce even more tomatoe-ey, you could add a spoonful of tomato puree  or even dried tomato paste.

• It is important to slow cook your sauce as this means that it does not need to be constantly stirred to ensure that it does not catch and burn.

Quick Tomato Sauce
Freezer Friendly

Ingredients
1 medium sized onion
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
dried oregano
salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Chop the onion.

2. Fry in a few tablespoons of olive oil and when it starts to turn golden brown, add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic.

3. Cook for a short while until the garlic turns translucent and then pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes and some dried oregano or parsley.

4. Bring the mixture up to the boil and then turn it down and let it cook until the sauce thickens

5. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and serve over some spaghetti.

 

Rosalind’s tips

This is a great recipe to have to hand.  It’s worth making two or three times the recipe and freezing it because it can be used in so many interesting and quick ways:

• Add some chilli powder to it and serve on top of penne pasta and you have pasta arrabiata

• Add to the tomato sauce a couple of anchovies coarsely chopped, a few olives (any colour will do) that are deseeded and chopped as well as a spoonful or two of capers in (vinegar but if in salt, soak them first before using).  A quick sprinkle of chilli powder heats this sauce up to and you have a puttanesca sauce.  Again great served on spaghetti.

• The sauce as it stands is great spread on a pizza base with whatever you fancy along with mozzarella cheese used as a topping

• Use any leftover tomato sauce in soups as it brightens up the dullest of soups, giving lovely colour and added flavour.

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Recipes