If you'd like to take it …

… one step further – you can make your own passata for the tomato sauce. It might seem a step too far, but I assure you it's worth the effort!

As an aside, if you grow your own tomatoes very often you find that you have a glut – the perfect passata solution and no waste! You can get many varieties to grow for cooking purposes - for example Roma (or plum as it's commonly known) - there are several to choose from all of which break down into rich thick sauces.

On with the recipe :

Passata – the quick way

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

4/5 cloves of roasted garlic

1.5kg tomatoes, chopped roughly

6 fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2tsp caster sugar

salt and black pepper

Using a large saucepan – 22cms in diameter, fry the onion and garlic for 10 minutes until soft. Transfer to a food processor or blender and blitz to a smooth paste and set aside.

Add the tomatoes and basil to the pan and cook gently, stirring frequently for 20/25 minutes until the tomatoes are soft. Cool for 10 minutes then push through a sieve to give a smooth sauce.

Rinse out your saucepan and return the sauce and paste, add the vinegar and sugar and simmer gently for 10/15 minutes, stirring until you have a thick passata. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cool then decant into suitably sized containers for freezing - if you want to use it straight away fridge it – it will keep for 3-4 days. Frozen, your passata will keep for up to 2 months.

As a guide you'll get 600ml of passata from the recipe.

Passata di Pomodoro in Italian or, as it is more commonly known liquid gold!

I should mention that passata freezes well, furthermore the flavours will continue to develop.

Remember to freeze in small amounts – you never know what you might decide to cook - you can always pull out two or three portions.

Waste not want not!

Passata pics and tips coming next.