Everyday Vegetable Sauce
I cook this recipe a lot and mostly on the weekends, when I have more time. Each week it is a slightly different version, so below I have outlined some basic quantities to follow, but this is a very forgiving recipe so if you have an extra courgette, just add it. During the afternoon nap, or in the evening, I have a clear out of our fridge and use up all the left-over vegetables; or, vegetables that just look past their best. This generally varies, depending on the time of year: in the Winter I might add more root-vegetables and in the Summer more Mediterranean-type vegetables. The recipe follows 2 cooking processes: 1/2 the vegetables are roasted in the oven and 1/2 the vegetables are gently sautéd in olive oil. At the end of the recipe you bring everything together and blend the sauce.
I recommend batch-cooking this, the quantities below are substantial, and then freezing the sauce in multi-portion trays. Then you have a quick veggie-packed sauce on standby and it makes a great base for so many family meals: pasta sauce, pizza topping, lasagna layer, base for oven baked eggs, a simple sauce for fish or chicken, and so on… It is a Mimi’s Bowl classic and such a useful recipe to have stashed in your freezer.
ingredients
2 small onions, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 carrots, peeled and diced
x2 (680g) bottles tomato passata
250ml water
2 red peppers, cored and cut into x4 large pieces
1 large courgette, trim and cut slice into rounds
1 small butternut squash (500g), peeled and diced
olive oil
pasta, to serve
other vegetables I saute ~ celery, leek
other vegetables I roast ~ sweet potato, aubergine
& if I have a glut of tomatoes in the summer I will add them to roasting tray veggies too
to make the sauce ~
Preheat oven to 170°C. Prep the vegetables for roasting: courgettes, butternut squash & red peppers for roasting, toss in a little olive oil and spread evenly on a tray, then roast the vegetables for 20 mins.
Prep the vegetables for sautéing in olive oil: take a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and gently sweat the diced onion until soft & translucent (10 mins approx.). Add whole garlic cloves, carrot, tomato passata & 250 ml of water, then cover with a lid and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. The carrot and garlic should be soft and cooked through. Add the roasted veg and any juices to the pot and simmer for a final 10-15 mins.
Remove from the heat and blend into a thick and delicious vegetable sauce, you can add little more water if needed, or until you have the consistency you like. Set aside to cool.
if freezing ~
Cool and pour into mulit-portion freezing trays, place in the freezer
Then when frozen pop the cubes of sauce into a labelled zip lock bag
The sauce should keep for up to 3 months in the freezer, but hopefully won’t last that long!