Have you ever thought about making your own tomato pasta sauce but always thought it was too messy and time consuming? If you grow your own tomatoes or find them really cheap at the local fruit shop or market then you definitely have to try this.

It can be a bit fiddly but having your own bottled sauce is simply delicious.

No need for preservatives or added flavours, just a bit of salt to help with the preserving and the flavours are added when you cook your sauce for your pasta. We have been making tomato sauce for the last few years and always make a large batch that lasts us for the year. Now that the kids are a little older they love to help and I hope it’s something they will enjoy experiencing for years to come.

Let’s make some sauce!

Ingredients

• Tomatoes
• Salt

Equipment

• Large pots
• Wooden spoon, ladle
• Funnel
• Metal strainer or Mouli
• Jars, recycle jam jars or pasta sauce jars
• Lids

Method

• Wash and chop tomatoes

• Put tomatoes in a big pot. No need to add any liquid as tomatoes have so much water that they need to be boiled down to reduce as much as possible.

• Simmer in large heavy based pot for about 30 minutes until sauce is slightly reduced. No need to overcook the tomatoes, just on a slight simmer will be enough to cook them down. The cooked tomatoes will break down, making it easier to pass through the sieve later

• Sanitise jars with lids by putting them in the dishwasher, no need to add soap powder. Do this whilst preparing everything else so jars are ready to fill when your tomatoes are done. If you don’t have a dishwasher then put the jars and lids in a large pot and bring to the boil

• Take tomatoes off the heat and pass through a mouli or sieve, discarding seeds and skin, into a large clean bucket

• Add 1 tablespoon of salt to every 5 litres of sauce, mix until combined

•  Fill the jars with sauce using a ladle and a funnel within a few centimeters from the top, close with lids

• Put the filled and closed bottles into a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes (we use a large drum)

• Allow to cool in the pot of water then remove and store in a cool dark place

Tomato sauce should last for about 12 months

Equipment can be found :  Onlyonline, MavenSupplies

What do you think, would you try making your own sauce?