Roasted Vegetable & Tomato Sauce

Five ways with… Tomatoes #4

Well my tomato supplies are now re-stocked after my recent Tomato Ketchup recipe so I’m ready to continue my Five Ways With…Tomatoes series with number four – Roasted Vegetable & Tomato Sauce.

This is a fabulously rich, sweet sauce that both you and  your children will love.  It’s the perfect partner to pasta but can also be used as a sauce for pizzas, the base for a ragu or even made into a soup.

Roasted Vegetable & Tomato Sauce

Makes approx 700 ml

You will need:

700 g tomatoes (any variety or mix of varieties that you  like)

2 red peppers

1 red chilli (if you like a kick)

1 aubergine

1 red onion roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbs sugar

Handful of basil leaves

A glug of balsamic vinegar (approx 1-2 tbs)

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C
• Prick the aubergine and put on a baking tray with the peppers.
• Drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper
• Roast in the oven for 30 minutes and then set aside to cool
• Meanwhile, put the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water for a minute
• Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the onions
• Fry for about 5 minutes until they are translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes
• The aubergine and peppers should be cool enough to handle now so peel the skin off and roughly chop before adding to the pan of onions
• Now peel your tomatoes and roughly chop these before also adding to the pan
• Once everything is simmering nicely together, add the sugar and the balsamic vinegar
• Simmer gently, uncovered for about 5 minutes
• Put into a blender along with the basil leaves and then blitz until you get the consistency you want.

Five ways to use your tomato sauce

1) Use as the base of a pizza and then add your favourite toppings and some grated mozzarella

2) Fry some lardons of smoked pancetta and then toss together with some spaghetti and black olives (and maybe some anchovies if that’s your thing!)

3) Mix in some tuna and sweetcorn then add to pasta and top with grated cheese for a quick tuna pasta bake

4) Place some cod fillets in a casserole dish and cover with the sauce.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180C and serve with a simple green salad

5) Thin out with some chicken stock (or vegetable if you’re vegetarian) or some cream and make a delicious soup!

What do you think?

Can you think of any other ways to use this delicious sauce?  Do add your thoughts to the comments!