Simple Tomato Basil Pizza/Pasta Sauce

When you have nothing much to do in the house apart from listening to nursery rhymes morning, day, and night, you need to keep thinking of ideas to keep your brain and mind working. My husband is again out of Singapore (I know, nothing new about it) and as such there is not much cooking to do. So I have started experimenting with a few recipes I have always wanted to try. On one side, I am crazily getting my pickles ready (chilli, mango, and sweet mango) and on the other preparing and stocking some sauces for future use. This tomato basil sauce is the simplest to start with and is a wonderful spread for your pizza base or as a pasta sauce. It is mildly flavored and you can adjust as per your liking. I have made this as a very small batch. You can increase the quantities as per your requirement.

                                        

Ingredients

 3 medium tomatoes chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic chopped

Fistful of basil leaves

2-3 tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly crushed pepper to taste

Direction

In a pan, heat the oil and add the chopped garlic. Fry till fragrant and add the tomatoes and basil and mix. Cover and cook on a medium flame till mushy and completely softened. Keep stirring in between. Remove from heat and let it cool. Now take a big bowl and put a sieve on top. Pour the tomato mixture through the sieve and start pressing with the back of a spoon till only the tomato skins remain. Scrap the bottom of the seive from the outer side and discard the flesh.

                                         

Put the sieved tomato puree back to the pan and start stirring on a medium flame. Add salt and pepper and continue stirring till the sauce thickens a bit. Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl/jar. Let it cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.