members recipes

Most of you will be familiar with some version of this sauce... Jamie has a version in the School Dinners series. The main difference between this & everyone elses is the size of the batch. And its not an exact science.. so I dont measure anything. I make 6-8 jars of this sauce & keep it in the fridge, and this last me 4-6 weeks. Most batches start with 6 X 400gm tins of toms & 1 X 500ml/gm jar of tomato paste. Roughly 1/2 an onion per tin of toms & a whole head of garlic per batch. I use it for loads of things.. osso bucco, chicken cacciatore, penne arribiata, pizza sauce, as a base for minestrone, bolognaise, lamb shanks, lasagna. The list goes on.. and of course for the quickest dinner just pour a jar over boiled pasta & top with grated parmesan.

Ingredients
onions
garlic
carrot
celery
capsicum/bell peppers
OPT: mushroom, zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, squash
salt
pepper
herbs
sugar
tomato paste
wine
oil
clean 500ml screw top jars

Method

So to start...
Peel & roughly chop veg.. I dont bother to even chop the garlic...

Use whatever veg you have to bulk it out, tomato, onion & garlic are the base, then add whatever, except for peas, beans & brassica. (Though I have been known to add broccoli stalk)

Next is sweating the veg, but this step is NOT REALLY necessary, up to the individual taste, but today I sweated the veg in some oil from a jar of anchovies.

Add all the tinned tomatoes, a small handful of salt, sugar & a BIG grinding of pepper. Add 1 tin of water and whatever wine you have spare & Simmer 1-2 hours.

Add herbs of choice, I usually add mixed dried herbs & some fresh parsley, simmer [b]5 minutes[/b], add tomato paste & blend with a stick mixer/bamix.

Now keep it over a VERY low heat, and using a ladle, pour into jars, wipe any spillage & put the lid on IMMEDIATELY.

Leave on bench until cool, then refridgerate. Keeps easily for 6 weeks.

People I have converted to doing this regularly tell me how much easier it makes their life...