Exposed: the Pasta Sauce that is truly easy!

I found a folder under my desk yesterday that was labelled ‘Methodology Chapter’. In it are pages of neatly typed notes, photo-copies and journal articles; work that I did two years ago and then forgot all about. I decided to reward myself for being so organised and ahead of the game and took Andrew out for lunch at the Sand Dollar. Andrew read in the Evening Express this week that the cafes and restaurants at the beach have been suffering. Bad weather, and the opening of Union Square, has caused a veritable desertion of the beach boulevard. I reckon the Sand Dollar will be ok though. It’s a destination in itself: www.sanddollarcafe.com/

Before Andrew’s parents left for South Africa last week they gave us a bag of bits and pieces that needed using up. In it was a small plastic tub of tomato pasta sauce. We never usually buy pre-made sauce as it is so easy to make. It made me think about why others buy pre-made. In the name of research I had a quick scout in Sainsburys. I counted 76 different tomato based pasta sauces in jars. I’m sure the shelf-stackers thought I was nuts so I didn’t hang around to check ingredient lists. Handily, Oliver had a jar of Gordon Ramsey’s pasta sauce in the cupboard at home and I was pleasantly surprised that all the ingredients were real – things that you could find in your own cupboard.

I never use a recipe to make tomato sauce. I’m all about invention. I use whatever combination of herbs, fresh or tinned tomatoes, garlic, onion, chilli and vinegars come to hand. Sometimes I add lemon; sometimes sugar. Sometimes I roast the garlic; sometimes I roast the tomatoes. More often than not I don’t bother doing either. There are no rules in my world for tomato sauce. Actually, I feel a bit sorry for my tomato sauce, I suppose it is rather cruel of me to treat it with such disrespect. I decided it was about time to give my sauce the attention it deserves so I dug out some recipe books. The result? More basic tomato sauce recipes than I could possibly have imagined. Turns out that tomato sauce is the gigilo of the recipe world and everyone has had a go. Ingredients range from 3 to 20. I even have an 1892 recipe from Mrs Wilkinson’s Cookery Book that calls for Turnip as a vital ingredient!

Of course people use pre-made sauce because it is convenient, and it is guaranteed to be more consistent than my concoctions! Still, I found two recipes – one from Nigel Slater’s “Real Fast Food” and one from Jamie Oliver “Jamie’s Dinners” – that are quick, unbelievably simple and would work out much cheaper than buying a jar of sauce. Nigel chops an onion and simmers it in a generous knob of butter, he then throws in a tin of chopped tomatoes, seasons with sea-salt and simmers for ten minutes. After that it is a case of grinding over some black pepper and adding a little more butter to taste. Now that is one easy recipe.

Jamie's saucey little number requires a little more time – but hardly any more fore-play. Fry chopped garlic in olive oil with a pinch of dried oregano and a whole red chilli (pierce the skin once to stop it from exploding). Add a tin of peeled plum tomatoes, season and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the chilli, mash the sauce and add a tiny swig of red wine vinegar. It makes you wonder – when Jamie has recipes as simple and tasty as that why does anyone ever buy his jarred sauces? It certainly beats me. As for my sauce, who am I kidding? I'll never stick to a recipe. I'll continue to treat it with disrespect whenever, and in whatever way, I please. Dirty little sauce that it is, I bet it loves every minute.