MULTI-PURPOSE, FLAME-GRILLED TOMATO SAUCE

I usually have a week's stock of this easy-to-make sauce ready in my refrigerator. Rather than using tomatoes as is, grilling them brings out a more profound flavour of them in the sauce. Also, one can choose to grill the tomatoes in the oven, but the open flame serves as a faster mode.

The sauce can brought to use in different ways to prepare a lot of dishes in a short span of time. Slather it on pizza, spread it on sliced bread to make sandwiches or rotis to make wraps; douse spaghetti with it or use it as a dip with chips or simply drizzle it over a piece of grilled meat.

Here is the recipe of my multi-purpose sauce:

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes
Makes: 2 cups

Ingredients:
450 gm Tomatoes (6-8 medium medium-sized)
50 gm Capsicum (1 small-sized)
2 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp Vinegar (white wine / red wine/ synthetic)
1 tsp Black pepper powder
2 tsp Sugar
½ tsp Dried basil leaves/ oregano
1 tsp Salt
Oil for greasing

Method:
1.Brush the tomatoes with oil and grill them on a low, open flame slowly until they get grilled evenly on all sides.
2. Chop the tomatoes and keep aside.
3. Slice the capsicum finely and keep aside.
4. Heat oil in the sauce pan on low-medium flame.
5. Add garlic, capsicum to the hot oil and fry for 5 minutes on low flame to leach flavour from them.
6. Add the tomatoes and mix well.
7. Add pepper powder, salt, sugar, vinegar to the tomatoes and mix well.
8. Simmer the mixture on a low flame for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes completely soften up.
9. Macerate any chunks of tomatoes remaining in the pan itself to achieve a smooth liquid paste.
10. Add the herbs to the sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
11. Pull the sauce off the stove and allow to cool to room temperature.
12. Pour the sauce in a glass bottle/jar and refrigerate.
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So, do try out this recipe and let me know how it turned out.
HAPPY COOKING…