Tomato & Basil Sauce
Rich, hearty and fragrant sauce, made with fresh basil and pantry staples.Makes approximately 400ml of sauce. This is enough for a batch of Chicago Pizzas or Traditional Pizzas
Servings: 400 ml sauce
Ingredients
- 800 g whole canned tomatoes
- small handful fresh basil leaves about 15g
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (note)
- teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Crush Tomatoes - tip tomatoes (and their juice) into a large deep bowl. Slowly, under the surface of the liquid, crush by hand, one by one. Try to encase the whole tomato in your hand before squeezing (unless wearing tomato is your thing!). Don't worry about smaller pieces; we're going to push them through a sieve later anyway.800 g whole canned tomatoes
- Flavour Oil - preheat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil, oregano, basil (careful; it will hiss and spit!) and chilli flakes. Stir through briefly until the basil leaves have darkened and wilted.small handful fresh basil leaves2 Tablespoons olive oilteaspoon dried oregano¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
- Tomatoes - tip in the crushed tomatoes (put the bowl aside for later – no need to wash). Bring the sauce to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Strain Sauce - pass the sauce through a sieve back into the bowl. Use the back of a large spoon to work larger bits of tomato through. This will take a bit of elbow grease. Discard the basil/tomato fibrous residue left behind. Make sure you scrape any tomato-y goodness from the back of the sieve into the bowl.
- Simmer Sauce - pour the sauce back into the pan and stir through the sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer. The sauce will seem very thin at first (especially if you used some water to ‘rinse’ out the tomato cans). It will thicken up as the water evaporates. Maintain a gentle simmer (uncovered), until sauce is hearty, fragrant, and thick. This will take 45 minutes to an hour. Stir it occasionally (more often the longer it cooks) to stop the sauce sticking at the bottom. Once it starts to do ‘lava-esque’ pops and threaten to make a mess of your stove-top, it’s ready 😊. You should end up with around 400ml sauce.teaspoon granulated sugar¼ teaspoon salt
Notes
The amount of chilli suggested here is a low amount of heat - slightly spicy if served as is with pasta. If you plan on using the sauce with lots of cheese, say on a pizza, the heat will be muted. Adjust according to taste.
Make Ahead
This Tomato & Basil sauce keeps for a few days in the fridge. It can be frozen for up to three months.