Garden Goodies Pasta Sauce

I started making a version of this last year, and have been playing around with the recipe since. I've nailed it! This is so, so good! Lots of goodies from the garden made into a wonderful sauce that is good on it's own or as a meal base, such as a delicious bologanise that will have you drooling!

​It's also the perfect way to use up those huge marrows and any blemished tomatoes, which we often inevitably have at summer's end. You can vary the ingredients to use what you have on hand. My original version didn't have honey, tomato sauce, vinegar, nasturtiums or oregano, and used less marrow. But trust me, these things take it from a very pleasant sauce to something sublime! What a perfect way to preserve some of the goodness of summer vegetables and herbs for a tasty, nutrious winter staple. 

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Ingredients: (to make a very big pot full - if you don't have a 10L stock pot, then halve this recipe)
Just prepare everything and chuck it in the pot one by one as you go.

• 2.5 kg tomatoes, washed and cut into even-ish chunks
• 1 large marrow, peeled, seeds removed, and grated (I cut it up then use a food processor to grate it - speeds this up a lot! I use the biggest marrow I have - this one was mammoth!)
• 5-6 stalks celery, diced
• 6 onions, diced
• 1 whole garlic bulb, peeled, crushed and roughly chopped
• 2 dessert spoons blackstrap molasses
• 2 TBSP uniodised salt
• 2 TBSP soy sauce
• 1-2 handsful fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 handful fresh oregano, remove stalks and chop leaves
• 1-2 handsful nasturtium leaves, washed, stems removed, and fairly finely chopped
• 1/2 cup honey (I used up some older, crystalised honey; still works fine!). Can use sugar instead if you wish.
• 2 cups tomato sauce (use my recipe or your store bought favourite)
• 1/2 cup malt vinegar

Marrow ready to grate - a food processor will speed this up, but I used to do it by hand.

Method:
Prepare each item as described above, adding to pot as you go. Give everything a rough stir together. It will seem dry, but as soon as you start to heat it, the tomatoes and marrow will release a lot of moisture. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 45-60 mins, stirring right to the bottom of the pot often to prevent sticking. Leave to cool. (I often make a pot of this in the evening, and just leave it covered on the stove overnight to cool down - it's no problem). You don't have to cool it completely before you carry on - I just find it convenient to take a break at this stage, and cooler mixes are safer to put through a food processor.

Ladle about half the mixture into a food processor in batches, and blitz until smooth. Recombine blitzed with unblitzed portions (leaving some unblitzed adds texture and interest to the sauce). Return to the boil, simmer 10 mins, then ladle into hot sterile jars and seal. 

Makes 5-6 agee jars full.

Before heating

Starting to simmer

Halfway there

Ready to process

Done!

To serve:
Reheat the desired portion, and serve over pasta. Or make this incredible bolagnaise:

Ingredible Garden Goodies Bolagnaise (for 4 servings)
Brown 450g mince in a little coconut oil in a pot. Add chopped mushrooms (optional), stir in. Add 1 litre jar of pasta sauce, stir. If you didn't use nasturtium leaves when you made the sauce, add some fresh ones finely chopped now (optional). Bring to boil then simmer 10-20 mins, uncovered. Thicken if needed with a little cornflour in water. 

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti pasta in a pot of boiling water for 10 mins or until el dente. Drain. 

Serve by arranging pasta on plates, topping with the bolagnaise, and sprinkle with grated cheese. SOOO good!