Description
Deliciously savory, tomatoey, tart, and sweet all at the same time
Ingredients
- One large red onion, or two medium shallots, chopped
- 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 cups of chopped celery
- 1 cup of grated carrot (more or less, use what you have)
- fresh thyme, I like to throw in a good 8-10 stalks
- fresh chopped parsely
- 1/2 tspn salt, few grinds of black pepper
- 1 flat tablespoon of sugar, you can always add less and add more later to taste (I only use brown or raw sugar in my home, but use whatever you have)
- 1 to 2 fresh chopped plum tomatoes
- 1 x 14.5 oz chopped/diced tin tomatoes
- 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
- olive oil – about 2 tablespoons
- 1 heaped teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 tbs vinegar
Instructions
- Start by getting all of your ingredients out and ready in front of you, with a chopping board and a sharp knife!
- Pop a medium size pot onto the stove and set the temp to a low/medium heat. Chop the onions and add these to the pot with the olive oil, and fry for about 10-12 mins. I like to cook onions low and slow until they get gold and sweet – some things should not be rushed!
- While the onions are slowly doing their thing (give them a stir every few minutes), chop the celery, the garlic, and grate the carrot.
- Add the celery to the pot, and let this fry for a further 5-7 mins or so. Remember the heat is not too high, allowing for a gentle cook. You can then add the garlic, and fry for a further minute or two! Add salt and pepper at this stage, and increase the heat to medium-high! while this process takes place, you can dice up your tomatoes!
- Now for the easy bit – add to the pot your carrots, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, and tin tomatoes (don’t throw away the tin). Squeeze in the lemon, throw in the thyme, and add the sugar.
- Take the tin and fill it about 3/4 way up with hot water (be careful, the tin gets hot) and swoosh around to get all the remaining juices and add this to your pot! It will be quite liquidly, don’t worry, it will reduce!
- Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat to low and let this simmer for about 30-40 mins, stirring every 5-10 mins. Of course, if you want this to be thicker, you can simmer further!
- Remove from the heat and give the sauce a taste – feel free to adjust flavors with more salt, lemon, sugar, etc. Once you’re happy with the flavor, remove all the sprigs of thyme.
- Now there are two options on the final step, you can either leave this as is, with chunky bits, or, you can blitz to make it as smooth as you like. I blitz mine a little to have both smooth and chunky elements. Enjoy!
Notes
If you love tomatoes and tomato based sauces as much as me, give this one a try! It’s incredibly versatile once made – you can us it as is (over pasta, yum!), over poached eggs (MY FAVORITE), in a lasagne, or added to mince for extra flavor! Because there is no meat or dairy ingredients, it can last in the fridge for up to two weeks. If you get sick of it and still have some left over, pop it in the freezer for a later date! When it comes to the ingredients below, if you have a little more or a little less of something, don’t worry, each time I make this, it tastes different, and it should be a fun experiment as you go. See links earlier in the post where I use this for other recipes!
- Cook Time: 90
- Category: Lunch/Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian