Name: Nana’s autumnal pasta sauce
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 3 kilogram ripe tomatoes; 3 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoon olive oil; 2 large onions, chopped; 4 clove garlic, crushed; 4 stalks celery, chopped; 6 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and chopped; 4 capsicums, chopped (mixed colours if possible); 2 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 2 tablespoon sugar or to your taste; Couple handfuls parsley, chopped

Nana’s autumnal pasta sauce

Nana does enjoy an Eye-talian every now and then. Grandad is a bit leery of foreign food, but as my sauce is made from his home-grown tomatoes he can hardly call it foreign, now can he? A big batch of sauce is the perfect solution to a summer surplus and freezing the sauce in plastic bags ensures it’s safe from pesky botulism. Tomato relishes and ketchups contain vinegar, boosting the acidity, so they are fine to bottle, but tomato sauce is a different kettle of fish. I can’t guarantee the mixture will be acidic enough to store safely in bottles so freezing is the answer. Zip-lock bags, filled and frozen flat so they stack neatly in the freezer, are perfect. I find some single-serve portions useful as well as bigger, family-sized batches.

Serves 10

Makes 2.25

Cook

50M

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Ingredients

3 kilogram ripe tomatoes

3 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

4 clove garlic, crushed

4 stalks celery, chopped

6 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and chopped

4 capsicums, chopped (mixed colours if possible)

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoon sugar or to your taste

Couple handfuls parsley, chopped

Method

1.To prepare tomatoes, wash and pat dry. Remove the stalk scars and chop into rough chunks. Place tomatoes in a large saucepan and add the salt (1 teaspoon per kilo of tomatoes).

2.Bring to a simmer and continue simmering for around 25 minutes, until very tender, then whiz with a processor, stick whizz or blender.

3.Pour into a sieve and use the back of a spoon to work the mixture through the mesh, removing the skin and seeds.

4.In a large stock pot, heat the oil. Cook the onions, garlic and celery till soft then add the rest of the vegetables. When they begin to soften, stir in the sieved tomato, tomato paste, oregano, sugar and some seasoning. Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the parsley.

5.Cool the mixture and divide into resealable plastic bags – I find some single-serve portions useful as well as bigger, family-sized batches. Place the filled bags flat on a tray to freeze, then stack them in the freezer.

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