h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Two 28oz tins diced tomatoes
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of white wine
salt and pepper

Drain the juice from the tomatoes into a large saucepan, add the vinegar, sugar, oregano, and basil, and reduce the liquid by 1/2 (or until it's thick and syrupy) over a low heat. Meanwhile, cut the carrot, celery, onion into small pieces, add the garlic, and sweat in olive oil over a low heat in a large skillet until the onion is translucent (15 - 20 minutes. This is called a mirepoix, and you shoud start off with the carrot, then celery, then onion, because the ingredients take different times to cook). Add the drained tomatoes to the mirepoix, and grill for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes (the tomatoes should begin to caremelise slightly around the edges). Remove from the grill and return the skillet to a low heat. Add the wine to de-glaze the pan. Add the reduced tomato juice, season with salt and pepper, blend to a smooth consistency, and serve with pasta. Bloody delicious

Ok, this is my favorite tomato sauce - bar none!

1 red onion, finley chopped (or grated, if you have a food processor)
Two cloves of garlic, finely chopped
One chilli pepper, de-seeded and chopped crossways into thin strips
One table spoon chilli sauce
Two teaspoons of castor sugar
1-2 glasses of red wine or half a glass of good quality balsamic vinegar
one small packet or jar of passata (about 250 grams), or a tin of chopped tomatos
Vegtable oil for frying
seasoning

1. Slow fry the onion, garlic and chilli pepper together for a few minutes, untill they begin to soften.
2. Add the sugar and continue to fry untill the sugar begins to caremalise.
3. Add the chilli sauce and continue to fry for a few more minutes (the longer you cook the chilli sauce the hotter the sauce will become).
4. Turn the heat up and get the pan really hot before adding the wine or vinegar. The liquid should sizzle when it hits the pan and imediately begin to boil. reduce the heat and simmer untill the liquid has rdeuced by half and has become sticky and thick.
5. Add the passata and simmer on a low heat untill warmed through. This sauce benifits from being allowed to cool slightly before serving.

The Chilli in this sauce is a flavoring, so the sauce shouldn't be to hot. Eat with pasta, add corriander to make a vegtable chilli, add vegi gravy powder and cook with vegi sausages to make a sausage casserole, or thicken it slightly with corn flower to make a base for pizza - Enjoy!

That sounds too good not to try out Pablo The original version of the recipe I posted called for some red pepper flakes, but when I put them in first time it was just too hot. It also has capers in it, but I don't like 'em.

Me either! Capers bleugh!