A Year In Redwood

I know that red is the traditional Christmas colour, but I do feel we’ve gone a little overboard with the red theme here!  We’ve had a glut of tomatoes, peppers and plums…. so lots of red cooking going on!

I’ve made batches of Pepper & Chili Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Piperonata and have yet to tackle the plums.

This tomato sauce is so versatile.  This is the original recipe which I got in the book ‘Classic Chicken Recipes’, but I adapt the seasonings according to what I have in stock.  You can serve it as it is with some pasta, use it as a topping for pizza or add some stock to it and you’ve got a delicious tomato soup.  It’s perfect to make up in batches and freeze.

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 14 oz can of tomatoes or fresh tomatoes skinned and chopped.
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp sugar

Method:

Fry the onion gently until translucent.  Add garlic and fry for another minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.

Simmer, uncovered for 15 – 20 minutes, until reduced by half.

I will share the other ‘red’ recipes over the next while!