RGFE

Directions

Step 1

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the garlic cloves and bay leaves. Cook for a minute until deeply fragrant before stirring in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 20 minutes until the sauce has deepened in colour to a rusty red and reduced in volume by a third. The tomatoes should be gently bubbling and you’ll see the reduction in the sauce from the dried edge around the inside of the pan.

Step 2

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan over a low heat, until deep golden. Tip the toasted nuts into a mortar with a pinch of salt and use a pestle to grind them until a smooth paste forms. Stir the pine nut paste into the tomatoes and continue to cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper until the seasoning is just right for you. If using fresh herbs, stir them through the sauce and remove from the heat.

Step 3

Ideas for your tomato sauce: • Stir into cooked pasta for 2-4 people, with a ladle of the pasta cooking water • Continue to cook gently for 10 minutes until thickened, and serve as a dip with the buttery flesh of a charred aubergine, toasted cumin seeds, a drizzle of tahini and fresh picked dill • Spoon onto cooked polenta and top with wilted greens • Mix with feta and white beans and use as a filling for filo pastry triangles • Spread a spoonful onto toasted sourdough bread and top with a fried egg • Cook a diced onion, carrot and celery stick in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, stir in the tomato sauce and a can of brown lentils. Cook for 10 minutes for a protein-packed sauce to use as a veggie Bolognese; Shepherd’s pie filling or jacket potato stuffing. • Stir through white bean stews for extra depth and goodness.