Replaces Jarred pasta sauce

The Sunday tomato sauce

Name: The Sunday tomato sauce
Total time: 1 h
Yield: About 1 litre
Ingredients: 2 × 400 g tinned whole plum tomatoes; 1 large onion, finely diced; 3 cloves garlic, sliced; 4 tbsp olive oil; 1 small carrot, finely grated; 1 bunch basil, stalks and leaves separated; to taste salt

One pot, forty unattended minutes, and enough sauce to carry four dinners through the week.

By Sebastian·21 August 2026

Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes: About 1 litre

Every jar of pasta sauce on the shelf is a version of this with sugar standing in for time. Give it forty-five minutes on a low heat and you get the same sweetness for free.

Ingredients

tinned whole plum tomatoes2 × 400 g
onion, finely diced1 large
garlic, sliced3 cloves
olive oil4 tbsp
carrot, finely grated1 small
basil, stalks and leaves separated1 bunch
saltto taste

Method

Soften the onion in the olive oil over a low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until translucent and sweet. Don't rush this — it is where the depth comes from. Add the garlic and grated carrot and cook for two minutes more.
Crush the tomatoes into the pan with your hands, add the basil stalks, then half-fill one tin with water to rinse it out and add that too.
Simmer uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is thick enough to hold a line when you drag a spoon through it.
Fish out the basil stalks, season with salt, and stir the torn leaves through off the heat.

One thing that helps. Grated carrot is the trick that replaces the sugar in shop-bought sauce. It dissolves completely and takes the acidic edge off tinned tomatoes without tasting sweet.