Like so many prepared products store bought tomato sauce for pasta is just packed with sugar, to say nothing of the other additives in a lott of them.

Try making your own sugar free tomato sauce instead for a healthier option. You will find that it tastes so much fresher and has a real tang to it. I first made this to use up a batch of tomatoes that I didn’t want to waste. The more flavoursome the tomatoes you start with the better the sauce will be.

To make your own sugar free tomato sauce you will need;

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

3 sticks of celery chopped

1 kilo/2 1/4lb tomatoes

150ml/5 floz dry white wine

1 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon runny honey

Herb bundle of 1 bay leaf, sprig of rosemary, 2 sage leaves and sprig of thyme

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Here’s how to make your sugar free tomato sauce;

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and cook the onion, garlic and celery for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make a cross on the base of the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds to remove the skins. Half and scoop out the seeds and then chop the flesh..

Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add all other ingredients, stir and bring to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Press through a sieve or food mill or whazz in a food processor.

Pour into a sterilised bottle and pop on the lid.

This will keep in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Makes half a litre/ approx 1 pint of sauce.

Serve this over plain pasta or use on a simple pizza base and then add toppings of your choice.

You’ll never buy store bought tomato sauce again after trying this one.

You can make this into a hot tomato sauce by adding a chilli to the recipe. I make mine plain as Idgy isn’t into spicy food so I just add some hot sauce to my own dish afterwords if I want to jazz mine up a bit.

Enjoy!

Karon x

Sugar Free Pasta Sauce

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

Author: Karon Grieve

Recipe type: condiments

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
1 kilo/2¼lb tomatoes
150ml/5 floz dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon runny honey
Herb bundle of 1 bay leaf, sprig of rosemary, 2 sage leaves and sprig of thyme
½ teaspoon grated fresh orange zest
½ teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
¼ teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Instructions

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and cook the onion, garlic and celery for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile make a cross on the base of the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds to remove the skins. Half and scoop out the seeds and then chop the flesh..
Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add all other ingredients, stir and bring to the boil.
Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Press through a sieve or food mill or whazz in a food processor.
Pour into a sterilised bottle and pop on the lid.
This will keep in the fridge for up to 1 month.