If you've never eaten a plate of pasta with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes, as opposed to passata or ready made sauce from a supermarket, you are in for a taste sensation! The sweetness in the flavour is incomparable and you may never go back to the others ...
Buy the ripest freshest tomatoes you can find, about 8. If you’re lucky enough to grow your own, even better! You can prepare in either of these two ways:
One: wash and cut into bite size pieces. If you use cherry tomatoes (a whole punnet), you can use them whole.
Two: par boil them whole then remove from pot and peel, allowing to cool a little so you can handle.*
Dice up one onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil til golden.
Add as much or as little garlic as you like. I typically use one small clove to one onion. It’s best to add the garlic in a little later than the onion so it doesn’t burn.
Or you can smash the clove and add at the same time as the onion. Both should turn golden at the same time.
Add the tomatoes
Add in a couple of bay leaves.
Then add about 200ml water and salt to taste.
Add any other herbs you have. I use basil, parsley or rosemary.
Cover and allow to cook for about 30 mins on low heat.
Taste and add salt if required. Tomatoes should be softly squashed and sauce full of delicious flavour – ready to top your favourite pasta dish!
Serves 4. Keeps refrigerated for one week.
* I never bother with this method. It's too much effort to take the skin off, and really, we should be eating the whole food. No fussy kids allowed at my place :).
