This is a very intense and flavoursome, tomato sauce which suits many dishes; it is marvellous simply served with zucchini noodles and cheese, try it!
Serves 8
| Ingredients | |
| 1 red capsicum roasted; remove seeds and skin; finely chop 100mls or 7 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 tbsp of tomato paste 2 tins of Anna Lisa crushed or whole tomatoes 3tbsp vegetable stock paste – see recipe 2 tbsp dried oregano |
2 tsp of dried basil 2 tsp of dried or fresh parsley Pinch Baking powder* Pepper to taste 1tsp sea salt 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Garnish Parmigiano Reggiano |
Place capsicum on an oven tray and roast in a 180°C oven for 30 minutes until the skin has blistered and coloured. Remove and put into a plastic bag to sweat the skin and make it easy to remove. Set aside.
Add olive oil and onion to a medium sized saucepan and sauté on moderate heat until the onion becomes soft and golden; this takes about 15 minutes. Deseed and remove the skin from the capsicum, chop finely and add to the pot; cook until soft. Add garlic and fry the garlic to release aromatics; take care not to burn the garlic.
Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. It is imperative that you cook the tomato paste at this stage for a sweet and rich flavoured sauce. Add crushed tomatoes, herbs, stock cubes and pepper and add a pinch of baking powder and stir in well. This helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
Simmer for approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and stir through the extra virgin olive oil. Use immediately with some zucchini noodles garnished with Parmigiano Reggiano or cool sauce and store for 4-5 days at 4°C or freeze for long term storage.
Napoli sauce* is a ‘general’ basic, classic and versatile sauce made with tomatoes, onions, garlic and dried herbs including basil, oregano and parsley. Fresh herbs are best used at the end when you add the sauce to the pasta or dish for which you are using it. This recipe was given to me by a dear, old Italian Nona and is a favourite in the cooking school.
Napoli sauce can be served with dishes such as gnocchi, pasta, on pizzas, in eggplant parmigiana and meatballs. It also makes a good base dishes such as Bolognese, soups and risotto. It is fine to freeze, so make extra and freeze it so you always have it on hand for that quick meal
As always it is important to select the best ingredients, in this case your tomatoes. For those of you who grow your own, you are the luckiest as they will taste the best; for me, I use my greengrocer at the market who has excellent flavourful tomatoes. When these fresh ripe, red tomatoes are not in season select a good brand of tinned tomatoes with no additives, just tomato and tomato juice as I am using here. Remember to slow cook those onions and slowly cook the sauce for up to 45minutes and you will have a luscious, flavourful sauce useful for so many purposes
*Napoli sauce is also known as Napoletana sauce or Neapolitan sauce; it is the collective name given to various basic tomato-based sauces in Italian cuisine and originates from the region of Campania.
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- Ingredients for the sauce
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- Cooked and ready to eat!
