Slow Cook Tomato Sauce

1997. Were you still up for Portillo?

I was. Recently moved in with my boyfriend, now husband, in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, I was still registered to vote in Enfield and Southgate, the constituency which came to represent the fall of the last Conservative Government. Determined too that my local MP, Michael Portillo, would not get a vote from me for no better reason than I had always disliked him. I forget the statistics now but needless to say, it had been assumed it was a done deal that he’d keep his safe seat and so my toss up between Labour and the Liberal Democrats felt like a protest vote.

I probably bought my copy of the River Cafe Cook Book around two years after it’s publication. So I have been making this tomato sauce ever since the previous change of Government. (I am assuming there will be another one next week…)

Those results for Enfield and Southgate came in at around 3am. I was still up when our new lodger, my Italian friend Anastasia, came in very late from work. She’d dropped her belongings off a few days earlier and effectively this was the first time she’d “come home”.

“Are you still up?” she asked surprised. “Oh yes…” I enthused. I was waiting with masochistic hope that Portillo would lose his seat even though I still thought this unlikely. I could barely believe when he did lose by a fairly small margin and I felt quite proud that my vote had definitely contributed to this.

Anastasia lived with us for two years and we are still close friends today. I wish I could say I’d picked up lots of cooking tips from living with Anastasia (and later also her future husband Marco) but I wasn’t a particularly enthusiastic cook at the time and was more impressed by her home made pop corn than anything. It’s amazing that four of us could live happily together in a two bedroom flat, you’d think we’d have driven each other mad but it felt more like being in Friends.

When people talk about the 1997 election and whether they were still “Up for Portillo” I think, yes, it was when Anastasia moved in. If my life was divided in chapters then that night marked the beginning of a new and very charming one.

I have lost count of how many times I have cooked this tomato sauce. After so many times I have graduated away from the exact specifications of the River Cafe, mine has more garlic, I use chopped tomatoes without draining them and I’m less finicky about the thinness of the onion slices.

This week I made one of my mega portions of it, with three quarters of it being frozen for later use. I have included more modest quantities for those of you that don’t want to swim in the stuff.

This sauce has been a stalwart member of my kitchen cabinet since that year. I know I will be making it for life.

Adapted from The River Cafe Cook Book by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers

Ingredients for mass tomato sauce-a-thon:

Makes approx 2.5 litres, enough for around 20 portions in various meals

8 x 400g tins/tetrapaks of chopped tomatoes

80ml extra virgin olive oil
6 medium red onions, finely sliced
1/2 bulb’s worth of garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

OR

Ingredients for sensible amount:
Makes approx 750ml, enough for around 5-6 portions

2 x 400g tins/tetrapaks of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large or 2 medium red onions, finely sliced

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

Method:
1. Using a very large casserole dish, heat the olive oil until hot, drop in the onions and fry for 3-4 minutes before turning the heat right down and continuing to cook with the lid covering them until they are very soft. This will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes, still with the lid covering them.
3. Now add the tomatoes and stir into the onions. Bring up the heat very slightly, you want the sauce to bubble away gently to evaporate the excess liquid and thicken up. Cook with the lid off for between 90 minutes and 2 hours. Stir intermittently to stop it sticking to the bottom (around every 20 minutes should do), if you find it is sticking too quickly, turn the heat down a little.

The sauce can be used immediately, kept in the fridge for 3-4 days or frozen.

Comments

MaryMoh says

April 30, 2010 at 7:30 am

Wow….looks healthy and delicious. That looks easy to make. Would be good for parties. Thanks for sharing.

Maunika says

April 30, 2010 at 8:58 am

Sarah this is amazing! Tomatoes & garlic- a marriage made in heaven. Its something I always use whilst cooking a curry. The use of additional garlic – Your a woman after my own heart:)

Josordoni says

April 30, 2010 at 10:16 am

yes, this is the simplest and the best. I add tom puree if I am in a hurry because it thickens it faster, but tbh I much prefer it without.

No herbs in yours though? I do like a fat pinch of oregano in there. And sometimes a pinch of sugar if the toms seem a bit underripe.

Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

April 30, 2010 at 12:48 pm

@marymoh @maunika Thanks! Yes you could use for parties or curry.
@josordoni I haven't added herbs here as it's the most basic sauce (apart from addition of garlic which I class as compulsory!) but you could definitely add herbs to some of it depending what you were doing with it.

Hilary says

April 30, 2010 at 1:17 pm

I love staying up on election night. It's like a party for me.

I'm a better cook than I thought – without realizing it, I've more or less been making The River Cafe's tomato sauce for years! (But next time I will try cooking mine for as long as this recipe does…)

deer baby says

April 30, 2010 at 1:35 pm

I love the story of Anastasia.

And you know – I was 'Up for Portillo.'

Going to be an all nighter next week too. Can hardly wait.

goodshoeday says

April 30, 2010 at 1:55 pm

And of course Michael Portillo makes a far better tv journalist that he ever did politician ;0

Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

April 30, 2010 at 2:11 pm

@goodshoeday I definitely agree with you there, I don't mind him at all on tv these days!

Rambling Tart says

April 30, 2010 at 7:38 pm

Great story, Sarah. 🙂 That's so neat that you had such a good, "Friends" experience. I have no idea who Portillo is, but your story made me grin. 🙂

mango says

April 30, 2010 at 8:23 pm

3 hours to make a tomatoe sauce!! blimey!!!

Kitchen Butterfly says

April 30, 2010 at 8:45 pm

I love the political backdrop. In 1997, I'd just moved to the UK….to go to Uni! Love the tomatoes, love Anastasia. Enjoy your weekend

Amy @ cookbookmaniac says

May 1, 2010 at 12:19 pm

Cool. I use a very similar version that I came up with myself. I'm glad that something very similar works for other people. Your sauce looks so red delicious!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says

May 1, 2010 at 1:11 pm

Ooh adding onions, garlic and oil to tomatoes really ups the flavour! And yes while you're doing it, you may as well make a tonne! 😀

Morwenna Ellis-Philips says

May 1, 2010 at 1:48 pm

Nothing beats a fantastic tomato sauce for versatility and you can never have enough!
My tomato sauce was the first recipe I ever invented and perfected myself. It was the beginning of my lifelong culinary love affair!
Morwenna xo

Gourmet Chick says

May 4, 2010 at 9:22 pm

Very organised with your labelling – I like it (and the sauce sounds great)

Barbara Bakes says

May 5, 2010 at 3:35 am

I don't usually take the time to simmer my sauce a long time. I'll have to give this one a try.

George@CulinaryTravels says

May 6, 2010 at 7:47 am

I'm sure it's the long slow, simmering of this sauce that makes it so special.

I'll be stopping up tonight for the results too.

Slow Cook Tomato Sauce