I honestly can't remember the last time I used a jar of sauce from the supermarket. I think some of them are pretty good to be fair, reducing the amount of sugar in them and ensuring they are filled with vegetables. Ultimately, if you really want to know what’s in your food- you’ve got to cook from scratch!
This recipe takes about 10 minutes of your time, one roasting pan and a blender. Roasting the vegetables before blending gives guaranteed extra flavour and leaves you with a rich, sumptous sauce. You could double or even triple the recipe and whack a few portions in your freezer for a later date. This is beautiful just as it is, over pasta with fresh parmesan but you could use it for all sorts of dishes. Spaghetti bolognese, lasagne or even serve with roasted chicken or sausages with potatoes and vegetables. We used the sauce to top crispy chicken parm- breaded, fried chicken covered with parmesan and served with mash and broccoli.
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce
Makes 6 portions
Prep time: 10 minutes (plus blending)
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 large onions, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp each of oregano and thyme
20 cherry tomatoes chopped in half
3 tomatoes, chopped into 2cm chunks
2 red peppers, de-seeded and chopped into 2cm chunks
Drizzle of rapeseed oil
Season with salt and pepper 1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°c.
2. In a roasting tray, add all ingredients except the chopped tomatoes and purée.
3. Roast for 30 minutes, removing half way through cooking and stirring the contents of the pan
4. Once cooked, add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the pan, plus 2 tbsp tomato purée and 250ml water. Stir together.
5. Take 2/3 of the sauce and add to a blender. I PULSE the blender as I like the sauce chunky but it’s up to you if you want it smoother.
6. Pop the blended sauce and remaining roasted vegetables into a clean bowl (or freezer containers) and use for lots of different amazing dishes!