Basic Tomato Sauce

This is a very basic tomato sauce recipe, and knowing how to make it is really useful as once you can do this then you can make little changes to suit the meal you're having it with.

400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic
2tsp olive oil
2tsp fresh herbs, chopped

Step 1
Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, and add the onion and garlic reducing the heat. Sweat on a low heat for about 5 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon until the onion goes translucent.

Step 2
Add the tomatoes to the pan, and increase the heat to bring to a simmer and reduce. Add the salt and pepper towards the end, then take off the heat and add the herbs. Stir well, then serve over pasta.


Basil is the most common herb used for tomato sauces, but you may want to vary it depending on the recipe. You can also add tomao puree to the sauce to give a bit more flavour and colour.