Rich Tomato Sauce

Rich tomato sauce

Serves: Depends how much sauce you use...

Ingredients

• 400g tomatoes passata or chopped tomatoes ( depends on how smooth you want your sauce ) *

• 1 tbsp high-quality olive oil

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tsp - 1 tbsp brown sugar, to taste

• 2 tbsp dried herbs

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 1 heaped tsp sun-dried tomato paste ( from a jar, not a tube )

• black pepper

• pinch salt

* I got a garlic and herb passata

Method

- Add everything to a deep-set saucepan over medium-high heat, apart from one clove of garlic. Stir everything thoroughly together.

- Cover the sauce with a lid. Once it looks like it's starting to boil, reduce the heat to a steady simmer and keep it cooking for 45 minutes- 1 hour, lifting the lid and stirring every so often.

- You want to cook it for a long time to get a rich and flavoursome sauce. It's ready when it's thickened, then it's just up to you how thick you want it. ( if you want it rich but not as thick, cook it for longer but just add some water ).

- 10 minutes before the sauce is ready, add the last clove of minced garlic and stir it in.

- Remove from the heat and keep it in a air tight jar or container.

Tip- This sauce is great as a pizza base sauce or my favourite pasta dish is with this sauce, wholemeal penne pasta, pesto, toasted pine nuts, sun-bushed tomatoes, rocket and goats cheese crumbled on top.