THE KITCHEN

Section 1: Tomato Sauce

Having a tasty tomato sauce in the fridge is a good foundation for a number of quick meals. There are so many things you can do with tomato sauce! You can buy an amazing variety of ready-made sauces, but for me there is delight in taking a sauce you have made yourself, then using it to create a magical touch for another dish that is totally different from the original.

By initially making a double batch of tomato sauce for a recipe, for example Red lentil and sun dried tomatoes baked in savoy cabbage, then also preparing more of the lentils, while you have prepared one meal you have given yourself the opportunity of several other potential dishes:

From the extra tomato sauce:

• A quick pasta meal
• Stir-fry with some freshly grated ginger and soya sauce
• The base for simmering some beans or courgettes
• As a sauce to accompany a main course

From the extra red lentils:

• A Fruit nut loaf; made by mixing 1/3 each lentils dried fruits and nuts.
• The tasty filling for a pepper or stuffed cabbage
• Vegetable burger or falafel, see Lunches and snacks recipe1
• As the base for a delicious soup

Basic recipe

Ingredients
(sufficient for 2 meals feeding 4 people)

• 3 tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 medium size onions ~chopped
• 1 glass wine or stock
• 3-5 cloves of garlic~ crushed or roughly chopped
• 4 cm or 1 1/2 inch piece of carrot* ~ finely diced or a pinch of brown sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons tomato paste (optional)
• 2-3 desert spoons of light olive oil for frying
• Seasoning: depending on your mood; Salt and black pepper at the very least for a delicate tomato sauce
• 1 medium size thick-bottomed saucepan is required

Method

• Fry the onions, garlic and carrot over a low heat for a few minutes, until lightly golden and almost translucent in appearance.
• Add the seasoning/spices, tomato paste and infuse** over a low heat for a few moments, then add the wine or stock and reduce down slowly.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, and then fill one tin with water and rinse out the others with the same liquid. Add this to the tomatoes.
• Bring to simmer point, stir occasionally for approximately 20 minutes until reduced by half.
• Add a pinch of sugar if not using the carrot.
• The sauce will have a lovely light red to orange tinge to it. Taste it to see if a little more salt and pepper are required.
• Take out 1/2 for tonight's meal. Chill, cover and refrigerate the rest.

Variations:

This recipe can be flavoured by your taste buds, or your ideas for a dish. Try experimenting with 2 teaspoons of paprika and 1/2 of chilli, and/or a little tomato paste. All are variations you can experiment and have fun with.

* Carrot is a southern Italian way of taking that slightly bitter taste out of a tomato sauce, but more often than not a pinch of sugar is used.

** Infuse: In case this term isn't familiar to you, it means allowing the spices to mingle with the onions over a low heat to bring out their full flavour.

Adding tomato paste intensifies the tomato flavour and it will also act as a thickening agent.