One evening’s cooking that turns into the first ten minutes of half a dozen other dishes. This is a pantry recipe rather than a trip one for a specific reason: it makes far more than one meal, and without refrigeration there is nowhere good for the rest of it to go.
Read cooling and keeping cooked food before making this. If you have a working fridge it is 48 hours; if you do not, this recipe is not for you and you should make a single-meal quantity instead.
- Oil in the largest pan you have. Dried onion for four minutes until sweet.
- Garlic, herbs and paprika for thirty seconds.
- Tomato purée fried for a full minute until it darkens.
- All three tins in, plus the sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Twenty-five to thirty minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced by about a third and the colour has gone from red to deep brick. The oil separating at the edges is the sign it is done.
The sugar is not to sweeten it. Tinned tomatoes vary a lot in acidity and a pinch of sugar balances a sharp batch. Taste first, and leave it out if it does not need it.
Makes about 8 portions of base. From here: add chickpeas, add tinned fish, thin it for soup, or use it as a pasta sauce.