my epic bbq sauce

Ingredients

For the paste

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

10 cloves garlic, peeled

2 fresh red chillies, stalks removed

olive oil

Herbs and spices

10 sprigs fresh thyme or lemon thyme, leaves picked

10 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked

1 small bunch fresh coriander

10 bay leaves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

6 cloves

To finish

zest and juice of 2 oranges

200 g soft brown sugar

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

200 ml tomato ketchup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons English mustard

200 ml apple juice

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

Blitz the onion, garlic and chillies together in a food processor until you've got a really fine paste. Pour a lug of olive oil into a pan and gently fry this paste for 5 minutes on a low heat to really get the flavours going.

While that's happening, add all your herbs and spices to the food processor, then peel in strips of orange zest using a speed peeler (you don't want any white pith) and blitz up really well. Add this puréed mixture to the pan and cook for another minute. Add the sugar, stir in well and cook for a few more minutes, until it begins to dissolve and you get a thick brown paste. Pour in 285ml of water and cook for 2 more minutes, then squeeze in the juice of both your oranges and add all the remaining ingredients. Stir well and bring everything to the boil, then turn down the heat a touch and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.

Pour the sauce slowly through a fine sieve into a large bowl and get rid of any larger bits left behind in the sieve. Rinse the sieve and pass the sauce through the sieve again so it's really silky.

Leave to cool completely, then either divide the sauce between jars or get marinating straight away. Once it's in the fridge, you'll have about a week or so to use up the rest of the sauce. If you want to keep it for longer, you'll have to sterilize some jars. It's dead easy. Either put them in the sink along with their lids and cover them completely with boiling water from the kettle; or fill a really large pan with water, bring it to the boil, then immerse the jars and lids and continue to boil for 10 minutes; or, if you've got a good dishwasher with a really hot cycle, run them through that.

Pour the sauce into your sterilized jar, screw the lid on tightly, and immerse the jar completely in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Let it cool, then put it into the fridge or a cool dark cupboard until you need it. It should keep for about 6 months, no problem.