| 3 – 4 tablespoons (the recipe calls for 100ml) extra virgin olive oil | |
| Two ‘400g’ cans or one ‘800g’ , whole peeled tomatoes | |
| One 400g tomato can, filled with water | |
| 1 large onion, chopped | |
| 2 cloves garlic, sliced , whole | |
| ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns, coarsely crushed | |
| 1 dried (or fresh) red chili, or to taste | |
| 1/3 cup basil leaves, chopped or ½ – 1 teaspoon mixed herbs like Herbs de Provence, dried basil, dried thyme. | |
| Pinch of salt and Brown sugar, to taste |
This sauce that is so full of smooth character it is at once soup, pizza sauce, bolognese. For dunking bread in, as ‘bed’ sauce for sheets of lasagna and as the juice that fills the hollows of chewy rigatoni.
| 1. | Put the oil into a deep frying pan, turn on heat and add onion. Cook until translucent. |
| 2. | Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add whole tomatoes and water. Gently stir and cook over high heat for five minutes until mixture comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low and after 10 minutes, add peppercorns, chili, herbs and a pinch of salt. |
| 3. | Gently mix and cook over high heat for five minutes until mixture comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low and after 10 minutes, add basil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until a layer of oil forms on top. |
| 4. | Take off heat and use a stick blender to make the sauce/emulsify it. Or use your regular blender. |
| 5. | Once blended, balance acidity and sweetness by adding sugar and salt as you desire. |
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply