A versatile tomato sauce.

Lots of my recipes are based around this tomato sauce, which I make in batches. I use some fresh with pasta and grated cheese (cheddar and mozzarella), which we call 'Pizza Pasta' because of the stringy cheese just like a pizza topping, and freeze the rest in one serving batches. Aldi sell zip-lock freezer bags that are just the right size for one adult portion of sauces and soups. Come to think of it - that's a vegetable-based meal right there! Maybe we don't do so bad after all ;)

Ingredients:

• Olive oil (for sauteing the veg in)
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
  
• 1 onion, chopped finely
  
• 1 carrot, grated
  
• 1 courgette, grated
  
• A splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes
  
• A squirt of tomato puree
  
• 1 teaspoon of soft brown sugar or caster sugar
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 500 ml boiling water(or water just off the boil form the kettle)
• dried basil and oregano - half a teaspoon of each or a bit more

Heat the olive oil, and saute the onion, carrot and courgette for 6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another minute. Add the plum tomatoes, the tomato puree and the sugar and simmer (little bubbles, not big ones!) for 8 minutes or so. Crumble in the stock cube, pour in the boiling water and add the dried basil and dried oregano. Cook on a higher heat (but not max) for 2 minutes, stirring all the while.

Let it cool for 10 minutes - or more if you want to make a phone call or have a coffee and a bikkie. Make sure it's till warm though! Transfer the still warm sauce to a blender and whizz it all up. Will keep in the fridge, covered, overnight for re-heating the next day.

Freezable? Yes
Family Verdict: YUM! They don't know it's good for them ;)
Last Word: This sauce is the business! I use it in so many things where you might otherwise use passata or a jar of pasta sauce. It includes extra veg - what can there be not to like?