|COOK|basic tomato sauce - the ultimate 'convertible' meal

One recipe that I find myself turning to on a regular basis is a basic tomato sauce, I use it for pasta, pizza, mushrooms, chicken and soup. I can make the sauce and mix in other ingredients to change the flavour and adapt for meat eaters.

To adapt the sauce for a meat eater I...
Add sausages, cut up and fried like little meatballs
Add bacon, pancetta or prosciutto
Add chicken

Remove basil and add capers, olives and chilli - for Puttenesca sauce
Remove basil and add chilli, garlic and paprika - for a warm Spanish kind of sauce
Add double stock quantity and pasta/ beans - for a substantial tomato soup
Remove basil and add double stock, bouquet garni, diced, fried carrots, celery and garlic and pasta/beans - for a minestrone soup
Swap basil for 1 tsp mixed herbs

Add cream, yoghurt or cream cheese to any of the above to make a creamier version.

Bake in the oven for a richer more intense meal

Blend for a smoother sauce or blend just half for a smooth sauce/soup with nice chunks of tomato

Basic recipe - serves 2
1 can chopped tinned tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 dsp olive oil
1 dsp honey
1/2 pint stock
1 small red onion, diced
Handful basil

Gently fry the onion in olive oil until soft, add all other ingredients and simmer for 25 minutes.