Tomato basil pasta sauce is made with a “Soffrito” which is a blend of fresh ingredients used at the very beginning of the recipe.

To make the soffrito, chop up 1 carrot, 100g onion and 1 celery stalk (including the leaves!).

Add all of these ingredients into the base of a hand blender with 100ml of extra virgin olive oil, until it becomes beautiful and creamy, like a puree. This will form a flavoursome base for your tomato basil pasta sauce.

Next, turn the stove on to a very gentle heat and place the pot on top. Add 3-4 tablespoons of EVOO and pour in the soffrito mix.

Gently stir the soffrito so it covers the base of the pot, cover it with a lid and leave it to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

If you are using chopped or peeled tomatoes, blend them up so they become a beautiful thick passata. If you are using homemade or store bought passata to make your tomato basil pasta sauce, then you can skip this step!

After ten minutes, the soffrito will start to darken in colour. Stir it using a wooden spoon (making sure it is not burning) and then leave it to simmer for at least another 5 minutes.

When the soffrito is ready, mix through the tomato passata and stir very well using a wooden spoon.

Sprinkle 10g/2.2 teaspoons of rock salt and some black pepper and mix through.

Now, just cover the tomato basil pasta sauce with a lid and leave it to simmer slowly for 1-1.5hr, remembering to stir it every now and then.

After 1hr, remove the lid and leave it for another 30-45min, simmering it without the lid.

The finishing touch for this perfect homemade tomato and basil sauce is adding fresh basil at the very end. You can cut this up small or large depending on your preference – just make sure you don’t cut it with a knife! Add it with your hands before mixing through and leave this to infuse while the sauce is still hot – but the stove is now off.

E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!