Ginger's Home Cooking: Roasted Vegetable Pomodoro

Ingredients:

1 small onion

2 large carrots

3 whole cloves of garlic – peeled and ends nipped

3 stalks of celery

½ a green bell pepper

1 small parsnip (optional)

2 ½ to 3 Tbsp. of Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Dried Mixed Italian herbs (mixture of Basil, Marjoram, Oregano & Thyme)

A few leaves of fresh basil

1 dried bay leaf

1 can or jar of tomato passata

1 can of chopped tomatoes in juice

Foil

9” or 10” casserole or gratin dish

A large slow cooker (crockpot) if possible

This is a great way to use old veg and it’s so good! It came from years of trying to come up with the best and most versatile Italian sauce. I like to make a big batch and freeze some for another time. It’s lovely and fresh and so much better than jar sauce. While it’s time-consuming, it makes up for it by being very easy. There is also some room for flexibility in the ingredients. Carrots, garlic, onion & celery are a must, but you can put your own stamp on it. For instance, I used a parsnip this time, as it was sitting around on the verge of spoiling. I’ve often used a handful of button mushrooms if I have them and that works very well too. The green pepper could be changed for a yellow, orange or red one. A bit of courgette (zucchini) or aubergine (eggplant) would also work well. The smell that fills the house while the vegetables are roasting is amazing. ‘Low and slow’ is the key to this sauce – it imparts so much more flavour and can be done on a lazy weekend afternoon when you have no plans.

Method:

First, wash and very roughly chop all of your veg except for the garlic cloves, which can be left whole. Large pieces are fine as they will soften with cooking and be pureed later. Put the veg in a casserole or gratin-style dish. Add a dash of cracked black pepper, a dash of cracked sea salt, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, a generous shake of dried Italian herbs (around a couple of tablespoons) and 2 ½ to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir around until well coated. Put a small amount of water in to cover the bottom of the dish and prevent burning and sticking – no more than a couple of tablespoons. Cover the dish with foil and roast at 180 Celsius (350 F) for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for a further 45 to 50 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Remove roasted veg from oven and place in a blender or food processor. Blend until you achieve a rough puree. Place puree into a slow cooker along with a can or jar of tomato passata, a can of chopped Italian tomatoes in juice, a can of water, half a teaspoon of salt, a few fresh basil leaves and a dried bay leaf. Cook on high for the first hour and reduce to low for another 1 ½ to 2 hours. This is minimum cooking time. It can cook for many hours in a slow cooker – the longer, the better. If you don't have a slow cooker, a normal pot will also do. You'll need to put the lid on, keep it simmering on a very low temp and stir it regularly. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

This usually feeds 3 of us for 2 nights with a bit left over for a lunch or snack. It can be used on its own over pasta, with prawns or other seafood or combined with sliced cooked sausages or homemade meatballs. On this occasion, I’ve grilled Irish pork sausages, sliced them into the sauce and served with Linguine. It can also be used as a pizza or lasagne sauce or a sauce for meatballs subs. See pics below: