Over the years, I have worked on perfecting a reasonably easy, very nice, tasty tomato sauce, made without sugar, and one the children also enjoy with their sausages and chops. These 2 sauces fit the bill! Roasting the onions, tomatoes and garlic add a good depth of flavour and colour; it makes a little denser sauce than the slow-cooked one, so I usually serve this in a bowl with a spoon, the other I serve in a jug or bottle. The other sauce I think is super is one in which the tomatoes are slow-cooked with apples and onions in vinegar and water, plus salt and mace. It is cooked right down for 2½ hours and then mouli-ed. The recipe follows as well as how to sterilise your jars and bottles.
Tomato sauce with roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic
| Makes 300ml Ingredients |
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| 6 tomatoes, cut into ¼ or ⅛th 1 red onion, cut into ⅛th 4 garlic roasted in skins 20ml extra virgin olive oil 20 ml balsamic vinegar 2 anchovy fillets
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¼ cup fresh basil, chopped Large pinch or more grated nutmeg, to taste 1 tsp paprika 120ml apple cider vinegar 1 tsp sea salt Cracked pepper |
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Toss the tomatoes, onion and garlic in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar; place in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes until onion is soft. Check after 10 minutes and give it a stir around so the onions do not burn.
When the onions are softened and the tomatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and cool. Squeeze the garlic from the skins and place all these ingredients into the food processor or into a container suitable for the stick blender hand wand.
Add all the remaining ingredients. Purée well. Check and seasonings, you will probably want some more salt. Pass through the mouli to remove the remove the skins and seeds. Bottle into clean, sterilised jars or bottles.
Experiment with various spices and flavourings until you reach the perfect blend for your palate; you may like to add fresh chilli, chilli flakes, mustard powder, pinch of cloves, allspice.
How to sterilise your jars
To store your preserves, jams, sauces, relishes etc, you need to sterilise your jars.
Pre-heat the oven to low heat, about 120°C.
Wash jars and lids with hot soapy water or in the dishwasher, rinse well with hot water. Place jar and lid onto a baking tray in the oven for 20 minutes or until dry and you are ready to use it. Do not touch jars or lids with a tea towel.
If pouring a hot mixture into the jar, do so when the jar is still hot. Handle with a clean, dry tea towel.
Cover the jars with cellophane covers, secured with elastic bands, and replace the lids on jars.
Tomato sauce slow-cooked with apples
It is the apples which give the sweetness to this sauce, and so, adjust and play with the number you add to suit your preference. Be aware that the apples are reasonably high in carbohydrate, about 11.9g per apple. However, you do not use a lot of the sauce and it is eaten as part of a meal with meats and vegetables.
Makes 3 litres, about 4 large bottles
| 3kg Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped 3 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped 5 Pink Lady apples, peeled and roughly chopped 400ml apple cider vinegar |
400ml water 3 tsp salt 1 tsp mace |
Prepare the tomatoes, onions and apples and put them into a large pot with all the remaining ingredients. Bring slowly to the boil and gently simmer for 2 hours, until the tomatoes, onions and apples are very soft and the liquid has reduced down. Give the mixture a stir every so often to make sure it does not stick to the bottom.
Pass the tomato mixture through the mouli to purée and remove the skins and seeds. Check the seasonings; you may want some more salt. Bottle in the sterilised jars.
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- Slow cooking for 2 hours
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- Into the mouli to remove seeds and skins
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- Flavourful puréed sauce
