A classic Italian tomato sauce should be in everyone’s repertoire. Easy to make using simple, inexpensive ingredients and your Cooking Chef XL, this versatile sauce can be served with pasta and parmesan shavings for a quick mid-week family meal and can also be used to create so many other dishes.
Serve it with meatballs, use it to make lasagne, bolognaise sauce and baked pasta dishes, spread it over pizza bases or enjoy it with meat, vegetables or fish. It’s a great recipe to scale up for batch cooking and freezes really well, too.
Preparing ahead
This easy recipe makes enough sauce for 4 pasta servings and takes 45 minutes to make. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients
150g onion
2 sprigs fresh basil leaves
Fresh basil leaves, as needed
4 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1kg tinned plum tomatoes
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dark brown sugar
Salt and pepper, as needed
Tools
Cooking Chef XL
Top tip
Buying the best quality tinned plum tomatoes you can find will really add depth and enhance the flavours in your sauce.
Stage one
Attach the stir tool to your Cooking Chef XL and add the olive oil to the bowl. Lift the stand mixer’s head and fit the heat shield.
With the splashguard fitted, cook for 1 minute at 110°C, Stir 1. Add the onion, garlic and balsamic vinegar to the bowl and cook with the splashguard fitted for a further 5 minutes at 110°C, Stir 1.
Stage two
Next add the tinned plum tomatoes, 2 sprigs of fresh basil leaves, dried oregano and dark brown sugar to the bowl. With the splashguard fitted, cook for 25 minutes at 104°C, Stir 1.
Add the rest of the fresh basil leaves and salt and pepper to the bowl. Cook with the splashguard fitted for a further 10 minutes at 104°C, Stir 1. Allow to cool before serving.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to 6 months.
