Baba Kata's Pasta Sauce
My mum's pasta sauce, what can I say about it, all I can say is everybody loves it.
My mum is a great cook, I just don't recall ever eating anything that wasn't great growing up. With no cookbooks or internet back then, coming from a small village in Croatia, I have no idea where she learnt to cook the way she did. She is a woman that could do anything. Honestly the woman doesn't know the words 'I can't' her motto for everything was always 'if it has to be done, just get it done'. Growing up she always cooked dinner, take out was a treat, and was a sometimes thing. She worked, but she planned ahead, whoever came home first (either my dad or her, and later on me), started dinner and once she came home she took over. The woman was never tired, or at least she never showed it. Remember, she could do anything. Even now at 74, she still does big holidays, she just tells us to come a little later as she's a little slower, and I'm in the kitchen with her these days, but she gets it done, no complaints.
Back to the recipe, this is one of those recipes my mum makes when tomatoes are cheap. She loves to use roughly 70% roma tomatoes, her favourite tomato, and 30% cherry tomatoes, she says it makes the sauce taste better. But she will use all roma tomatoes if cherry tomatoes aren't on sale. Now this is a labour of love, although it is not a hard recipe, it takes time to chop up all the vegetables, it takes time to cook the sauce low and slow. So this is a project for those days when you have time. When we make it at my house, my mum comes over and we spend the day together making this.
With the tomatoes, make sure they are ripe. They ripen by just leaving them on your kitchen bench for a few days.
I can't tell you when this sauce entered our lives, one day it just appeared, with my mum probably making it to use up tomatoes she had at home, and as we loved it, she hasn't stopped making it.
Recently my daughter has taken an interest in family recipes, so the other day mum made this with my daughter and my sons girlfriend (who also loves the sauce) watching and taking notes.
Sometimes my mum adds chicken wing tips into her sauce. My parents never buy cut up chicken wings, as they cost more, so dad's job is to cut up the wings, and wing tips always get frozen to either make a soup or she adds them to her sauces. She would add the wing tips in when she adds the garlic to the other vegetables. Remove wing tips, before blitzing Her sauces are never the same. Recipes are guides for her. You will see below, I have given three sets of ingredients, as every time she makes this, she makes it similar, but there's differences, but she writes them down for me. So I will give you all three versions, one is using 2kg tomatoes, the beginners version, one is when you have 5kg of tomatoes, I want some for the freezer version and then we have the 7kg of tomatoes version, which is the tomatoes were really cheap and if I'm spending the day cooking, I'm making it worthwhile. You will notice sometimes she adds parsley and bay leaves, sometimes she doesn't, it all depends on what she has available. If you don't have fresh bay leaves, use 1/2 the quantity of dried bay leaves.
This is how you will find the pasta sauce in my house. My mum packs them in these snap lock bags and she freezes them. Then when I don't feel like cooking dinner, or the kids have friends over and they are hungry, and I don't feel like cooking or when I forget to buy bread for school lunches....I just pop one of these bags out of the freezer, put it (out of the bag) to defrost in a saucepan over a low heat, put on water to boil for pasta and by the time the pasta has cooked the sauce has defrosted and my family is fed.
My mum is a great cook, I just don't recall ever eating anything that wasn't great growing up. With no cookbooks or internet back then, coming from a small village in Croatia, I have no idea where she learnt to cook the way she did. She is a woman that could do anything. Honestly the woman doesn't know the words 'I can't' her motto for everything was always 'if it has to be done, just get it done'. Growing up she always cooked dinner, take out was a treat, and was a sometimes thing. She worked, but she planned ahead, whoever came home first (either my dad or her, and later on me), started dinner and once she came home she took over. The woman was never tired, or at least she never showed it. Remember, she could do anything. Even now at 74, she still does big holidays, she just tells us to come a little later as she's a little slower, and I'm in the kitchen with her these days, but she gets it done, no complaints.
Back to the recipe, this is one of those recipes my mum makes when tomatoes are cheap. She loves to use roughly 70% roma tomatoes, her favourite tomato, and 30% cherry tomatoes, she says it makes the sauce taste better. But she will use all roma tomatoes if cherry tomatoes aren't on sale. Now this is a labour of love, although it is not a hard recipe, it takes time to chop up all the vegetables, it takes time to cook the sauce low and slow. So this is a project for those days when you have time. When we make it at my house, my mum comes over and we spend the day together making this.
With the tomatoes, make sure they are ripe. They ripen by just leaving them on your kitchen bench for a few days.
I can't tell you when this sauce entered our lives, one day it just appeared, with my mum probably making it to use up tomatoes she had at home, and as we loved it, she hasn't stopped making it.
Recently my daughter has taken an interest in family recipes, so the other day mum made this with my daughter and my sons girlfriend (who also loves the sauce) watching and taking notes.
Sometimes my mum adds chicken wing tips into her sauce. My parents never buy cut up chicken wings, as they cost more, so dad's job is to cut up the wings, and wing tips always get frozen to either make a soup or she adds them to her sauces. She would add the wing tips in when she adds the garlic to the other vegetables. Remove wing tips, before blitzing Her sauces are never the same. Recipes are guides for her. You will see below, I have given three sets of ingredients, as every time she makes this, she makes it similar, but there's differences, but she writes them down for me. So I will give you all three versions, one is using 2kg tomatoes, the beginners version, one is when you have 5kg of tomatoes, I want some for the freezer version and then we have the 7kg of tomatoes version, which is the tomatoes were really cheap and if I'm spending the day cooking, I'm making it worthwhile. You will notice sometimes she adds parsley and bay leaves, sometimes she doesn't, it all depends on what she has available. If you don't have fresh bay leaves, use 1/2 the quantity of dried bay leaves.
This is how you will find the pasta sauce in my house. My mum packs them in these snap lock bags and she freezes them. Then when I don't feel like cooking dinner, or the kids have friends over and they are hungry, and I don't feel like cooking or when I forget to buy bread for school lunches....I just pop one of these bags out of the freezer, put it (out of the bag) to defrost in a saucepan over a low heat, put on water to boil for pasta and by the time the pasta has cooked the sauce has defrosted and my family is fed.
So if you grow your own tomatoes or if tomatoes are really cheap, here's something you might like to try that my family loves.
Recipe
Tomato Sauce using 2kg tomatoes:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, diced
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 bunch parsley leaves, chopped, to taste
1.3kg ripe roma tomatoes, peeled
500g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 bunch basil leaves, leaves torn, to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
1 fresh bay leaf
1 teaspoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato Sauce using 5.5kg tomatoes:
300ml extra virgin olive oil
5 x 200g onions, finely chopped
2 red capsicums, diced
1 whole head garlic, finely chopped
4.5kg roma tomatoes, peeled
1.2kg cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup basil leaves, firmly packed, to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
2 teaspoons vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato Sauce using 7kg tomatoes:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3 red capsicums, diced
2 carrots, peeled, finely diced
3 sticks celery, finely diced
1 garlic head, finely chopped
1/2 bunch parsley leaves, chopped, to taste
7kg roma tomatoes, peeled
1/2 bunch basil leaves, leaves torn, to taste
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
3 fresh bay leaf
1 heaped tablespoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, diced
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 bunch parsley leaves, chopped, to taste
1.3kg ripe roma tomatoes, peeled
500g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 bunch basil leaves, leaves torn, to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
1 fresh bay leaf
1 teaspoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato Sauce using 5.5kg tomatoes:
300ml extra virgin olive oil
5 x 200g onions, finely chopped
2 red capsicums, diced
1 whole head garlic, finely chopped
4.5kg roma tomatoes, peeled
1.2kg cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup basil leaves, firmly packed, to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
2 teaspoons vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato Sauce using 7kg tomatoes:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3 red capsicums, diced
2 carrots, peeled, finely diced
3 sticks celery, finely diced
1 garlic head, finely chopped
1/2 bunch parsley leaves, chopped, to taste
7kg roma tomatoes, peeled
1/2 bunch basil leaves, leaves torn, to taste
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, extra
3 fresh bay leaf
1 heaped tablespoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
Now although the ingredient lists differ, slightly, the method is pretty much the same. Depending which ingredient list you choose, some things you will need in the method, some you won't. Ignore the ingredients you are not using.
Peel roma tomatoes: Put a large pot of water over high heat, bring to the boil.
Score a small cross into the top of the tomato. Once your water comes to the boil, turn off the heat. Place tomatoes, in batches, in the boiling water, allow to sit for 30 seconds to a minute, then remove from the water and peel away the skin. It should come off easily. Remove the bit where the stem was connected, my mum always does, but it is optional.
In a large bowl, that will fit all of your tomatoes, use your hands to crush the tomatoes, this will break up your tomatoes and remove the liquid. Do not throw out the liquid. Place the crushed tomatoes into this bowl after they are crushed.
You do not need to peel cherry tomatoes.
Add oil to a large saucepan, it needs to cover the base of your pot. Place over a medium heat. Add onion, capsicum, carrot and celery, sauté for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add garlic and parsley, continue to sauté until the vegetables have softened, about a further 4-5 minutes.
When the vegetables have softened, add in the crushed tomatoes, but not the liquid, at this stage, the cherry tomatoes and the basil. Stir through to combine. Add in the extra oil, stir through. Simmer about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add in the reserved tomato juices now, the bay leaf and vegeta, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to combine. Cover with a lid, bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. After this time, remove the lid and continue to cook for a further 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the sauce is cooked to your liking. My mum says a sauce is not done until the oil appears on the surface.
Remove all the bay leaves. Using a stick blender, blitz until thickened to your liking. If your sauce seems too watery, just continue to cook it uncovered, stirring, until it has thickened to your liking.
Peel roma tomatoes: Put a large pot of water over high heat, bring to the boil.
Score a small cross into the top of the tomato. Once your water comes to the boil, turn off the heat. Place tomatoes, in batches, in the boiling water, allow to sit for 30 seconds to a minute, then remove from the water and peel away the skin. It should come off easily. Remove the bit where the stem was connected, my mum always does, but it is optional.
In a large bowl, that will fit all of your tomatoes, use your hands to crush the tomatoes, this will break up your tomatoes and remove the liquid. Do not throw out the liquid. Place the crushed tomatoes into this bowl after they are crushed.
You do not need to peel cherry tomatoes.
Add oil to a large saucepan, it needs to cover the base of your pot. Place over a medium heat. Add onion, capsicum, carrot and celery, sauté for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add garlic and parsley, continue to sauté until the vegetables have softened, about a further 4-5 minutes.
When the vegetables have softened, add in the crushed tomatoes, but not the liquid, at this stage, the cherry tomatoes and the basil. Stir through to combine. Add in the extra oil, stir through. Simmer about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add in the reserved tomato juices now, the bay leaf and vegeta, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to combine. Cover with a lid, bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. After this time, remove the lid and continue to cook for a further 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the sauce is cooked to your liking. My mum says a sauce is not done until the oil appears on the surface.
Remove all the bay leaves. Using a stick blender, blitz until thickened to your liking. If your sauce seems too watery, just continue to cook it uncovered, stirring, until it has thickened to your liking.
Serve immediately over cooked pasta. Leftover sauce, we freeze, I place the quantities I need in snap lock bags and freeze them until I need them.
Enjoy!
