The Holy Grail Tomato Sauce

A good tomato sauce is really handy to have around. It's obviously great for mixing in pastas and topping pizzas but once you have a batch in the fridge, you will be surprised at how many other uses come up. Like sandwiches, or eggs, or even a quick sauté of vegetables. I have come across many tomato sauce recipes in my life. And on at least three occasions, I have proclaimed a particular recipe to be the best so far. But this particular tomato sauce beats all of those hands down. In fact, this is so good that you should make it right now.

Start off with 4-6 tomatoes. Wash them and cut them into quarters. With a paring knife, take out the seeds - try and get as many as you can but don't kill yourself trying to get to every last seed. Also grab 3-4 cloves of garlic and peel them. Heat a non stick pan that is large enough to hold the tomatoes in a single layer. Add a tbsp of olive oil to the pan and swirl it around so it coats the base. Arrange the tomatoes on the pan and also throw in the peeled garlic. When the tomatoes start to char, turn them around one at a time and cook the other side as well until you see black roast marks on all your tomato pieces.

Let the tomatoes cool a bit, then take the skins off - at this stage, you don't really need to peel them. Just grab one end and the skin will skip right off. Pop the tomatoes and the garlic in a blender. To add to the tomato flavour, add 2 tbsp. of tomato paste/puree. Also add in a tsp of dried oregano and another tsp of dried basil, a swig (possibly a tbsp. but I didn't measure) of rice wine vinegar and salt to taste. Blend everything until it is of a consistency you like.

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