Here’s my take on this fantastically versatile recipe which my children will willingly eat, and which my husband raves about also!
I cook a vat and then freeze it in 400g portions so that when I want to make an easy, tasty pasta sauce, a base for lasagne, spaghetti Bolognese, or use it as a jacket potato topping with a sprinkle of cheese, I have some readily available.
Ingredients:
- 1 aubergine (eggplant)
- 1 courgette
- Red and yellow pepper
- 6 small tomatoes
- Olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- A sprinkle of dried oregano
- 4 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes.
(Note – you don’t have to match these ingredients too closely. Avoid starchy veg like sweet potato, parsnips and swede; otherwise you really can be quite liberal with the veg you use depending on what you have in the fridge or can find in the shops. I’ve just listed what I used today.)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Chop up aubergine, courgette and peppers and roast for 30 minutes with a lug of olive oil.
In a large pan (I often use a wok), fry the garlic and sprinkle with oregano; add the chopped tomato tins to this mix and cook for 20 minutes.
Keep an empty tomato tin.
Add the roasted vegetables and cook for a further 10 mins.
Leave to cool. Transfer to a container you can blitz it in with a blender (e.g. casserole dish). I do mine in lots.
Blend until smooth.
You can then use the empty tomato tin to section it into 400g portions to pop into tupperwares or freezer bags, ready for a recipe, fridge or freezer.
I’ve also often slow cooked this recipe by chopping up all the veg and throwing it in the slow cooker with the other ingredients, slow cooking on high for 4 hours before cooling and blending.
We’ll use some of today’s batch in a spaghetti Bolognese. I’m blindsided by how much taste this can add to a dish and also the fact that children seem to eat any vegetable in it because it’s so well hidden by the blending.
For our dietary needs this dish is totally free from nuts, peanuts and all legumes and traces.