Tomato & Herb Pasta Bake Sauce
Course:
Dinner
Ingredients
- 400 grams Chopped Tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Onion (very finely diced)
- 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 11⁄2 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt (to taste)
- Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice (or red wine vinegar)
- 15 grams Parmesan Cheese
- 2 teaspoons Cornflour
- 20 millilitres Milk
- 1 Egg Yolk
Steps
Yields one 485g jar of Homepride-style "tomato & herb" pasta bake sauce.
Making the sauce:
- Blend the entire tin of chopped tomatoes until smooth.
- Pour into a saucepan and simmer uncovered for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced by roughly ⅓ and noticeably thicker.
- Note: if doubling the recipe, expect reduction to take closer to 30 minutes.
- Wait about 10 minutes before proceeding to the next step.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a high-walled saute pan. (Stainless steel pot.)
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook 8–10 minutes until very soft but not browned.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook 1–2 minutes until brick-red and fragrant.
- Add the reduced tomato base to the onion mixture.
- Stir in the sugar, salt, black pepper, basil, and acidity.
- Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Taste — it should be slightly intense and a touch saltier than a ready-to-eat sauce.
- Stir in the grated cheese until melted, then remove from the heat.
- Wait a few minutes before proceeding because we're about to add egg and don't want scrambled eggs!
- In a small bowl, mix the cornflour with the milk, then whisk in the egg yolk.
- Slowly stir this into the warm sauce.
- Return to low heat and cook 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly thickened. Do not boil.
- Allow the sauce to cool completely. Texture should be spoonable, cohesive, and not watery — designed to thicken further during baking.
Using the sauce:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Put 200g dry pasta into a 9x13" ovenproof dish.
- Pour on the sauce, add 200ml of cold water, and stir into the pasta, coating well.
- Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven and stir thoroughly.
- Sprinkle on 100g grated cheese and return to the oven for 20 minutes until bubbling and golden.
Source: https://chatgpt.com/c/697fad5b-284c-832d-8457-102df9a9be70