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A Really Useful Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe. With this sauce in your kitchen, you are never far from a quick meal. Make a batch, & then wonder how you ever did without it.
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5 from 2 votes

A Really Useful Tomato Pasta Sauce

With this extremely useful tomato pasta sauce in your kitchen, you are never far from a quick meal. It is great simply stirred through pasta, and even doubles as pizza sauce in a pinch. Once you have made one batch, you will wonder how you ever did without it.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time5 hrs
Total Time5 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 32
Calories: 90kcal
Author: Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas

Ingredients

  • 180 ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 large onions chopped
  • 3 large stalks celery chopped
  • 1 x 2500g (88oz) tin whole peeled plum tomatoes
  • 2 x 750ml (24 oz) bottles tomato passata
  • 250 ml (1 cup) white wine
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped parsley
  • Salt & black pepper

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a large pot, then add the garlic, onion and celery.
  • Saute the vegetables over a low - medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables have softened. Do not allow them to brown.
  • Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring the pot to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat to low.
  • Simmer the sauce for four to five hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced and thickened. I crush the whole tomatoes into the sauce after it has been simmering for about two to three hours.
  • Allow the sauce to cool, then divide into meal size portions.  I recommend dividing the sauce into 2 cup portions.  
  • Either freeze or can according to your preference.

Notes

I use one of those really large tins (2.5kg size) of tomatoes in this sauce. I purchase mine from my local Italian deli. If you cannot locate this size tin, substitute 3 x 800ml tins of tomatoes instead.
I know it looks like a large amount of olive oil, but trust me. You are not cooking a single meal (unless you have an extremely hungry family) so this amount of oil is necessary to saute all of the vegetables.
I can (bottle) this sauce in 500ml bottles, using standard canning practices.
You can also freeze this sauce in containers or zip lock bags.