Simple Tomato Sauce

I always forget that one don’t need to sow many seeds to get a few good producing tomato plants. It’s a little late this year but the plants flowered, tomatoes are growing and we’ve got some good harvest, at last.
We are now quite spoilt by being able to make and preserve our own tomato sauce, especially for pasta, which would get us thru the winter time. It’s even better this time coz it’s made using our own homegrown garlic, fresh bay leaves and squash.

Recipe by Rick Stein from Rick Stein’s Spain

preparation time less than 30 mins; cooking time 30-60 mins

Ingredients:

125ml olive oil
225g onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g skinned, chopped tomatoes
150ml water
3 fresh bay leaves
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp sugar
(I added 250g squash or courgette – cut into matchsticks)

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a wide shallow pan over a medium heat.
Add onions and garlic and sauté for 15 mins, stirring every now and
then, till soft and sweet and very lightly golden-brown.
Add tomatoes, water, bay leaves, salt and sugar and bring to the
boil.
Lower heat and leave to simmer very gently, uncovered, stirring now and then, for 45-60 mins till it has almost reduced to a purée.
Leave to cool slightly then remove bay leaves, tip into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Leave to cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze till needed.

Note:
Rick Stein’s tomato sauce recipe used with canned tomatoes but either fresh or canned tomatoes. If using fresh, make sure they have a good deep colour and are juicy with lots of flavour.