We love Italian food !! It has very much become a staple diet. Pasta is something that we have atleast once a week, if not twice !! The days that have a buzy 7.30 am to 6 pm , I am sure to stir up the sauce into pasta that day. But we definitely do not stick to our monotonous flavours.. Its not just Creamy Tomato Sauce or White sauce always.. We do have a Chinese version , thats my favourite 😉 . Coriander Pesto Sauce  - thats Hari's favourite !! And more...

Can you believe I got my mom to like the Pasta genre . She was quite an antipasti.. until I made one for her when she visited me years before.. Amma like it butter laddened and loads of vegetable finely chopped with a dash of salt, pepper and chopped jalapenos. Its definitely history!!!

A few days back ,when I chanced upon a visit to the Indian grocer , I found Vine tomatoes dearth cheap.. 64p a kilo when our super market giants like Tesco's to M&S sell them for 1.8£ to 3£. I could not hold myself back and brought bags:) Well thats the Indian heart in me or the chef in me, I decided to make something and stack it for the cold wintery days yet to come..

 
That was one buzy day !! And it had to be pasta for dinner ! Yaaay !! exclaims my lil miss bumblebee.. She loves her pasta loaded with butter and cheese. While making ours, I opened a bottle of Lloyds Grosman Tomato Basil sauce and it Occured in my mind.
Pasta Sauce it is !! I had to make mine to use up the tomatoes . And what else?? I made a Curry Paste that will come handy when my guests come around.

I googled to understand the making of passata and then the sauce. Tarla Dalal's recipe came quite handy and I have altered the ingredients and proportions to suit our taste.

HOMEMADE TOMATO PASTA SAUCE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  PREP TIME        COOK TIME          TOTAL TIME  10 Min             30 Min            40 Min --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Shelf Life : Under a week Refrigerated. Adapted from : Tarla Dalal's Tomato Sauce INGREDIENTS: 5      Large Vine Tomatoes   1 Bay leaf 2 Dried Red Chillies 10-12 Shallot Onions 2 Cloves of Garlic ½ Green Pepper , deseeded 2 teaspoon Tomato Puree 2 Tbsp. Tomato Ketchup 1 teaspoon Dried Basil 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil Salt to Taste ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIRECTIONS: Blanch the tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water. Once it cools down, peel the skin, deseed the tomatoes and chop them into fine pieces. Finely chop onions, pepper and mince the garlic. Heat oil in a broad pan and add bay leaf and dried red chillies. Sauté for about 30 seconds. Throw the onions, garlic and pepper ,all at once and sauté them for a 3-4 minutes , until the onions are soft . Pop in the chopped tomato and let the pulp simmer in for at least 10 - 12 minutes, until the sauce reduces.  Add in Tomato Puree, Tomato Ketchup, Dried herbs and the about 1tsp of salt and cook for another 10 minutes. Once the desired consistency is achieved, switch off the gas and move the sauce pan on a hot stand, letting it cool down. Refrigerate and use as may desired. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  TO WHIP A TOMATO PASTA Boil a pot of hot water and drop in the pasta to be cooked along with a teaspoon of oil and a pinch of salt.. Cook, according to the intructions of the packet upto Aldente.Drain the pasta and let cool down by passing it under running tap water. Set it aside. Heat a teaspoon of Olive oil and add 2 teaspoon of the pasta sauce. Saute for about 1 minute and add the cooked pasta . Adjust your seasoning accordingly like adding more salt , pepper , pepper flakes if desired . Grate some cheese and enjoy it warm. If you like fry veggies like carrots and peas and add it before adding pasta sauce. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES:     The original recipe calls for adding ¼ a cup of ketchup. I have tried it in my first batch and found it sweetening my sauce. Hence I have omitted the sugar called for as well. The recipe also calls for removing the bay leaf, peppercorns and green peppers. But I like to retain them in my jar to retain the flavours.