Can be used as the base for bolognaise, pizza, lasagna... All of which I may give you my recipes for by and by. Worth it to make A LOT, and then freeze in portions. It's so good you will never buy Dolmio again. And cheap, wei! Best made on a sunny, happy weekend, with lots of time to chill out in the house while smells waft from the kitch.
Prep time: depends how fast you chop onions
Cooking time: at least 45 mins but up to 2 hours for a big pot
Ingredients:
Olive Oil (good quality Mediterranean is better but expensive)
Onions
1 or 2 cloves of Garlic (optional)
Canned chopped or whole Tomatoes (good quality whole plum tomatoes are best)
Tomato Puree
Sugar to taste
Fresh Basil (optional)
Method:
1. Dice onions - they don't have to be too fine, they are going to melt anyway. Ratio of onions to tomatoes in the pot is roughly 1:3. The more onions, the sweeter your sauce. Peel and smash garlic.
2. Saute onions and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil until brown and caramelised. Don't skip this step, or burn anything on too high a heat.
3. Add canned tomatoes plus all its juices. If your tomatoes are whole you can break them up with your spatula a little. Add generous amount of tomato puree. Like one of those little cans or equivalent.
4. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on very low heat for 45 mins or (much) more. Stir every 15 mins or so, to make sure the bottom does not burn. If it has burnt you can still save it, just refrain from stirring the burnt bits into the sauce. You will know it's done when olive oil starts coming to the top and forming little puddles on top of the sauce.
5. It won't taste sweet until it's almost done. If still a little tart then, add sugar to taste. I always add a tablespoon-full. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Oh ya, stir in whole sprigs of basil at some point during the simmering, which will wilt and die and sacrifice all its goodness up to the sauce. (Whole sprigs so that you can pick them out easily. Unless you want to eat them... for fibre...)
*THE END*
So simple. Even Meng can do it =P. Go for it guys, ready-made sucks!
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Eh Mich,
ReplyDeleteInstead of sugar, why not try balsamic vinegar? Sophie Dahl says it makes stews sweeter. Just my two cents :)
Yes yes it goes nicely in tomato sauce! I do it sometimes at home... but have never thought of it as a substitute for sugar, I just always put both hehe! Thanks for the suggestion :D
ReplyDeleteI mean, you can try other things as well like Tabasco, oregano, capers, chilli flakes... but you can add these later on accordingly and not necessarily have them as part of your base sauce.