Tomatoes -99 cents a kilo

So many of our meals start with homemade tomato sauce.  In a hurry - cook some pasta, stir fry some courgettes, beans and mushrooms and add tomato sauce and voila!  Use it as a base for spaghetti bolognese, chilli, or a casserole.

You need:
1/4 cup olive oil
25 g butter
2 medium onions - diced
2 red or green capsicums  (bell peppers)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 kg peeled tomatoes
2 Tablespoons parsley
handful of basil - you can used dried if you have to - 2 tablespoons
1 Tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon chilli paste
2 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorns

To make:
Heat the oil and butter in a large pot.  Add the onion, garlic and tomato paste and cook over a low heat, stirring occassionally until the onions are soft.  Add all the other ingredients and simmer slowly in a semi covered pot for 45 minutes, stirring occassionally to prevent sticking.  Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 10-15 minutes until the sauce is quite think.  Store in fridge.

We tend to do 6 kilos of tomatoes at a time and we do freeze some of the sauce, but beware allow some space for expansion when you freeze it.

To peel the tomatoes we pop them into boiling water and then peel.

Guess what we are having for dinner tonight!