I’m very puzzled by people buying commercial pasta sauces. They are mostly very bad indeed and whilst I realise that the pace of life is such that sometimes for ease we’ll cheat, I just could not bring myself to open a jar of vomitous gunk.
As all recipes do, this sauce has evolved over time and my latest version recently received a satisfyingly good reception.
TIP I love using Sainsbury’s tinned cherry tomatoes. Make double and freeze the rest. Omit the chilli if heat is not your thing.
Serves 6
1 tin tomatoes
500gr passata
1 large glass of red wine
1 large white onion, finely sliced
2 sticks of celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
good handful of basil leaves
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 birds eye chillies, sliced
2 tbs of fig balsamic vinegar (or ordinary)
1 tsp of white sugar
good pinch of sea salt
black pepper
3 tbs olive oil
Heat the olive in a deep frying pan. On a low heat, fry the onion, carrot, celery and sliced chilli for about ten minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for a minute, turn the heat up and pour in the wine.
Reduce by half, add the tomatoes, passata, vinegar, sugar and salt. Turn the heat down to low, pop on a lid and cook for an hour, stirring from time to time.
Grind in some pepper, roughly chop the basil leaves and stir into the sauce. Pour everything into a blender and blitz till very smooth. Check the seasoning and serve with the pasta of your choice. It’s especially good with meatballs.
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