I prefer a sauce day at the end of summer when the fresh tomatoes are ripe and plentiful, but we didn’t manage to do it this year. As a second best we have used tinned tomatoes and dried basil to make our sauce this time, so we have a quick and easy base for pasta and pizza.
NOTES
This makes about 12 litres of sauce.
You can split and freeze it in batches and it will last about 12 months in the freezer or you can jar it for about the same amount of time in the cupboard.
Tips for jarring your sauce – ensure the jars are squeaky clean and at room temperature then you can put the HOT sauce into the room temperature jar and it will seal.
INGREDIENTS
6 large brown onions
2 heads garlic (yep, the whole head not just cloves)
2 cups olive oil
2 tablespoons dried basil
4 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
10kg tinned tomatoes – the diced or smoother versions are best
METHOD
Finely dice the onion and the garlic (or use a garlic press), this can be done in a food processor by pulsing in batches if you don’t have Tanya’s knife skills.
Add the onion, garlic, dried basil, and olive oil to a very large cold pot, turn to a low – medium heat and sweat off until tender (onion will look clear). This takes approximately 15 mins.
Add the remaining ingredients
Turn up the heat to get the ingredients hot and then turn down to a low “bubble”.
Cook for approximately 1 hour until it thickens.
Jar it while it is hot or let it cool to divide between containers for freezing. Helpful hint: Never put a full or large pot into a fridge or freezer to cool, always split into smaller containers first and allow to cool to 20C. Large containers will take a long time to chill and can grow harmful bacteria. There is also the risk of heating up your fridge and the other food in it again allowing for harmful bacteria to grow.
