Sugo Al Pomodoro

Add the 3L of water to a Le Creuset Stockpot, place on the hob top and leave to come to a boil.

Using a small paring knife score a cross into the base of each tomato.

Once the water is boiling, plunge the tomatoes in batches of aroung 8 - 10 at one time into the water for 40-50 seconds until the skins start to come apart. Remove them with a Le Creuset Slotted Spoon or Wire Skimmer into a colander. Once all the tomatoes are blanched, discard the water from the stockpot. Upturn the lid of the stockpot and set the colander on top, the lid will catch all the draining water from the tomatoes.

Peel away the skins from the tomatoes and discard. Roughly chop the flesh into small pieces or pulse in a food processor in batches to a chunky consistency.

Heat the olive oil in the stockpot over a medium heat, add the chopped onions with the garlic and sauté for 5-6 minutes until softened and translucent. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt. Place on the lid and heat for 5 - 8 minutes until simmering well. The lid will help speed up the simmering process.

Remove the lid and adjust the heat level to achieve a slow bubbling simmer. Continue to cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced by around 1/3.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with the extra sea salt. If required add a squeeze of lemon to increase the acidity, this will depend on the sweetness of the tomatoes. To finish stir in the basil leaves.

Recipe variations:

Arrabbiata sauce: add fresh chopped chilli or dried chilli flakes

Puttanesca sauce: add chopped anchovies, capers and black olives

Bolognaise sauce: add sautéed pancetta or bacon, carrot, celery, ground beef, beef stock and oregano

Fresh tomato soup: add vegetable stock and fresh or soured cream

Cooks's notes:

When cooking larger quantity pasta recipes the 28cm stockpot is ideal for cooking the pasta while the 22cm can be used for the sauce.

Although not traditional, adding tomato paste will intensify the flavour and colour of the sauce.

If frezzing, allow the sauce to cool before decanting into plastic containers or freezer bags, this can be done in portion sizes to suit your needs. The sauce will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

As a general guide, 500ml of sauce will serve 3-4 people depending on the recipe it is used in. Please bear in mind this is a batch recipe and servings denoted are per batch of 500ml (125g-160g per person.