Tomato Pasta and Pizza Sauce

This is the sauce I use on pizza, for melanzane and sometimes on pasta. It takes a little while to reduce, but is well worth the wait! Make loads and freeze so you’ve got some handy whenever you need it!

Serves 4 children for pasta or coveres 2 large pizzas.

Ingredients:

1 400g can of chopped tin tomatoes (Napolina work well)

1/2 medium onion

1 large garlic clove

pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar

1 teaspoon tomato puree

pinch of oregano (fresh or dried)

fresh basil

olive oil

boiling water

Method

1: Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Saute gently until the onion is soft. Make sure nothing burns!

2: Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, oregano and sugar.

3: Add a little boiling water and let it bubble away gently to reduce for about half an hour.

4: Add some fresh basil leaves torn into little bits and stir through.

5: Serve or allow to cool and freeze until needed.

Tortilla Pizzas

Having a son addicted to any sort of pizza makes me very fond of any easy pizza-type recipes! This one is fantastic for little fingers – give everyone a wrap, pop the passata in a bowl, grate some cheese, chop up some yummy extra toppings, and see what the kids come up with!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 tortilla wraps
tomato passata
grated cheese – cheddar and mozzarella work well
fresh basil leaves
a selection of yummy extra toppings – olives, sliced peppers (not green, your child may never forgive you!), mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn, sliced ham, pepperoni……

Method:
1: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2: Put the tortilla wrap on a baking sheet and spread over the tomato passata. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and some basil (I find I can get away with some torn up basil leaves on pizza even with children who recoil at the sight of anything green!).

3: Add any yummy extras!
4: Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the base is crisp. Let the kids cut the pizzas into slices either with a knife and fork or a pizza cutter before they dig in!