Meatballs with my versatile spicy tomato sauce

Yes my darlings, it is true: I’ve created a fantastic spicy tomato sauce so versatile, you can practically use it on anything. I started making it as a tomato sauce for my pizza bases, and then realised that it also tasted great on pasta. It also works very well with meat and chicken. Lo and behold, it can even be turned into a soup!

The beauty of this sauce is that it is made from canned whole tomatoes and a few cupboard essentials, which means that you can stock up on these items and whip it up anytime of the year. Here is the basic recipe, plus a few optional extras that will change the sauce into something really spectacular!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans whole tomatoes, finely processed (in your food processor or with a stick blender)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon freshly minced red chilli

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and fry untill lightly golden. Add processed canned tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, chilli and smoked paprika. Stir over medium heat untill boiling and turn down to low heat to simmer for 15 minutes (cover the pot slightly because the sauce tends to splatter!).

Suggestions for use:

1) The sauce is ready for use on pizza bases (spread it generously!) before adding fresh buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil.

2) I also use the sauce over spinach & ricotta canneloni. Cover with grated mozzarella and parmesan and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.

3) Add about 100ml fresh cream to create a fabulous creamy pasta sauce for tagliatelle & tagliolini! You can even add crispy fried bacon if you like your pasta meaty.

4) Cover ground beef meatballs with the sauce and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. Serve with grated parmesan and fresh basil on rice or on pasta.

5) Add 150ml good chicken stock and 100ml cream for a rich and creamy spicy tomato soup. Adjust seasoning, serve with an extra swirl of cream and crusty bread.

6) Add to 500g fried minced beef, and layer this with pasta sheets and béchamel sauce to create the BEST lasagna. Cover with extra cheese and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

The possibilities are endless! Create your own combo’s and let me know!

This sauce stores well in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for a few months.

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3 Comments

  1. Marni Bezuidenhout

    Well, isn’t this just fantastic! Mouth-watering stuff and so versatile!

    1. Aaaaaaah! Marni! Lovely to see you’re still checking out the blog. 🙂

  2. […] and freeze it for occasions like this. Secondly, I have a recipe for a super quick and versatile spicy tomato sauce that I have published before, that worked perfectly for this dish. All I had to do was dice my […]

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