With a quality organic tomato passata at hand, a zesty tomato sauce or paste is minutes away. You may have made your own from the garden or bought from a shop. The fantastic thing about store bought passata, is it’s generally in a glass bottle if store bought, so no BPA concerns there, as with the cans. This recipe was inspired by my trip to the farm where there were a bounty of tomatoes and fresh herbs at hand to bring home and play with, and instead of popping everything in the fridge and thinking about it later, my lil’ guy and I made use of the rainy afternoon, and got cooking. See below for loads of applications for this basic recipe.
Ways to use this simple recipe as a spring board.
Add to this base, 2 cup stock of choice + adding seared chicken, bacon, fish , squid or prawns, whatever the mood = pasta sauce for 6 people. WIN!
Pizza base paste – reduce for a full 20 minutes on low heat to thicken and reduce water content. You now have a cracking pizza base for home made pizzas
Add 2 cups chicken or veggie stock, a handful of fresh basil and 2 zucchini – blitz once simmered for 10 minutes and you have a delicious soup for 2-3 people in minutes.
Toss some soaked and cooked canellini or borlotti beans through it with a pinch of stevia or splash of maple syrup, for a luxurious home made baked beans recipe.
A heavenly little grain free pizza base with home made pesto, haloumi, mushrooms and zesty sauce base, with a drizzle of Olive Oil to finish.
A little note on night shades. I will note, while tomatoes are full of fantastic stuff, they are part of the night shade veggie family (along with eggplant, potato, capsicum) and many have found a sensitivity with nightshades, bringing on arthritic symptoms. I’ll cook with tomatoes every now and then, but gone are the days of 3 night a week tomato based sauces. The natural sugar levels can be a little inflammatory also, so just watch your body. Listen. They’re pretty darn good at telling us stuff!
Real Food. Happy Bodies
Zesty Tomato Sauce or Paste Recipe
Ingredients
- Don’t hesitate to x 3 or x 4 this batch and freeze what you don’t need this time for later!
- 1/2 purple onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp chives
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 heaped tsp fresh or dried oregano
- 1.5 cups passata
Instructions
- Fry off onions in a couple of tablespoons of macadamia oil. butter or coconut oil.
- Add the garlic, herbs and pasata along with a 1/3 teaspoon of salt. Simmer 20 minutes. You’re done. Zesty base sauce ready.
