Sugarvine

Hi Russell, a couple of tomato-based pasta queries for you. What's the tastiest simple pasta sauce recipe you can recommend based on a tin of chopped tomatoes? Also, why do most recipes get you to remove the skins and the seeds -- what's the problem with just chopping the tomatoes instead of deskinning and deseeding? - Steve H

Hi Steve,

A quick and simple pasta tomato sauce I like to make at home.

. Take 1 onion and 1 clove of garlic and chop finely
. Soften in olive oil and add 1 tsp of tomato puree
. Cook out for 2 minutes and deglaze with a glass of dry white wine
. Reduce the wine by 2/3 and add 1 large tin of chopped tomatoes (the best quality you can get)
. Add 250 ml of chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
. Pass through a fine sieve and season
. To finish the sauce bring 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of caster sugar to a boil and add to the tomato sauce (this will liven the sauce)

The reason you are advised to remove the skins and seeds of tomatoes is because tomato skin is not digestible and the seeds can be bitter in flavour. Personally, I would not remove the skin if I was to make a quick sauce - just cut the tomato in half and squeeze out the seeds quickly. Enjoy!

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