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My everyday tomato sauce
( MAKES 1.8 litres )

NZ Woman's Weekly

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It’s great to have a sauce that works with everything, and the best bit about this one is that you know what’s in it. Enjoy this easy-to-make summer sauce on simple burgers and snarlers, or use as a pasta sauce base for spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne. Once you’ve made your own, you will be converted. Use up your ripest, reddest, juiciest tomatoes for this brew. My sauce is quite sweet – more like a store-bought classic. But if you would like it more piquant, reduce the sugar to ½ cup.

Ingredients

2 kgs	Large ripe tomatoes, hulled and roughly chopped
3	Onions, diced
1½ tsp	Salt
3	Garlic cloves, chopped
¾ cup	Brown sugar
1 cup	White wine vinegar
1 cup	Water
3	Bay leaves
½ tsp	Smoked paprika
½ cup	Tomato paste
3 sprigs	Fresh thyme
12	Peppercorns

Directions

Combine ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme, and blend the sauce with a stick blender or whizz in food processor until a smooth.
Pass the sauce through a colander or sieve, if you prefer no seeds, and return to the saucepan.
Season to taste and bring back to the boil before ladling into clean, hot jars. Seal while hot, or store the ready-to-eat sauce in jars in the fridge.