Tomato and Basil Sauce

I had some very ripe tomatoes in my kitchen that were in desperate need of being used. Ripe tomatoes are great for sauces, so I decided to put together this tomato and basil sauce, which is great on it’s own with pasta or as a base sauce for bolognese, chilli etc

Tomato and Basil Sauce

Slimming Eats Recipe

Makes a 4 person serving of sauce

Extra Easy – 1 syn for a quarter of the sauce

Green – 1 syn for a quarter of the sauce

Original – 1 syn for a quarter of the sauce

Ingredients

• approx 7 large ripe tomatoes (I used tomatoes on the vine)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• salt and black pepper
• handful of basil leaves
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil (4 syns)

Method

Score the top of the tomatoes

Drop into a saucepan of boiling hot water, parboil for a few mins just until skin is softened and comes away easily. Peel off skins.

Remove as much of the seeds as you can and finely chop flesh of tomatoes.

Drizzle a frying pan over a medium high heat with the olive oil.

Add the onion, celery and garlic and fry until softened

Add the tomatoes and fry for a further few mins, breaking up any big pieces of tomato with the back of the a wooden spoon.

Add some torn up basil leaves, balsamic vinegar and a little salt and black pepper and simmer on low for approx 45mins-1 hour, until tomatoes have cooked down to a deeper red colour.

You can add a little stock if you prefer a more watery sauce, but I love the thickness and flavour of this sauce just as it is.

This sauce is great served over pasta, or meats and is great as a base sauce for bolognese, chill etc.

The recipe above has been calculated for Slimming World, however for those of you following the Weight Watchers plan or another calorie controlled type diet. Below is the approx nutritional information:

Approx NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
1 serving
Calories	67
Fat	2.4g
Saturated Fat	0g
Total Carbohydrate	11.4g
Dietary Fibre	2.6g
Sugars	5.4g
Protein	2.5g