For the love of Food - A collection of recipes

Basic Tomato Sauce

A very good sauce that is an excellent basis for a number of dishes. This is a double quantity so that you can make a couple of things from it.

[If you use fresh tomatoes, make sure that they are very tasty and ripe (good plum tomatoes). Before you use them you'll need to blanch them, by making a little slit in their skin and pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Count to 30, then cool them by running under cold water and slip off the skins.]

2 tins chopped tomatoes
quarter tin of water
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves (finely sliced or chopped)
salt/sugar
you can add a bit of chilli or a cinnamon stick depending on what you're going to do with the sauce (the cinnamon is particularly good for a middle eastern type dish)

In a medium sized saucepan heat the olive oil. When it's hot, but not smoking, add the onion. Cook slowly until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Stir for a short time and add the tins of tomatoes plus the quarter of a tin of water. Add a pinch of sugar and salt.

Cook over a medium heat for at least 30 minutes or until the sauce is lovely and gloopy and doesn't have that thin, acidic taste that can happen if the tomatoes aren't cooked enough.

And if you're in a hurry or the sauce doesn't seem tasty enough throw in a dolmio sauce (or similar, but only enough for a bit of taste not to overpower)

posted by Zoozan @ Monday, January 02, 2006