Easy homemade tomato sauce

Remove the stalk ‘scar’ from the tomatoes using a sharp knife or
apple corer, but don’t peel them. Cut them in quarters and feed them
through the tube of a food processor fitted with a metal blade,
together with the garlic. Process to a chunky mush. (If you don’t have
a food processor, roughly chop the tomatoes into 1-cm sized pieces).

Put the cloves and cardamom pods onto a little square of muslin or
cloth and tie in a bundle, like a bouquet garni. Place the bundle into
a deep preserving pot or a thick-based pan and add the tomato pulp and
all remaining ingredients. Mix well, bring to the boil, then turn down
the heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking,
until the mixture has reduced by a third, or is slightly thickened.

This
will take about two hours. Remove the spice bag, allow the sauce to
cool slightly, and then whizz to a rough purée in your food processor.
Pour the purée back into the pan and bring to the boil. In the
meantime, sterilise four
jars (about 250 ml each) and their lids, which should be plastic-lined
lids  Pour the boiling tomato sauce into the jars, filling to within a
few millimetres of the rim. Screw on the lids tightly, and tighten
again after half an hour.

If you want a really smooth tomato sauce, sieve the sauce before bottling it.

Reprinted with the permission of  Scrumptious South Africa. To visit Scrumptious South Africa’s blog click here.