Tasty, Tomato Sauce!

This tomato sauce is a necessity to learn and is great as you can adapt it to make anything that your heart desires!! You cannot go wrong with a tomato sauce and it is the fundamentals to cooking!
Ingredients 

• 1 tbsp of sunflower oil- 80p from Tesco
• 3 garlic cloves- 1 bulb 30p from Tesco
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes- 31p Tesco own brand
• a pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• Basil- 70p fresh from Tesco
• Optional; extra virgin olive oil- £1.30 Tesco

1. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil for a minute over a low heat. Then add the garlic and stir. Cook until the garlic is translucent but make sure to avoid browning!
2. Add the tin of tomatoes and stir. Depending on how much sauce you want to make you can use a whole tin or half a tin but make sure to decant the remains of the tomato in a separate bowl. The tin itself will have a poisoning effect on the rest of the sauce when the can has been opened.
3. Turn up the heat so that it reaches a simmer and add a pinch of sugar. Allow this to cook gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid it sticking to the pan. You can extend the amount of time you want to cook the sauce for as it will help the it to develop a deeper colour and flavour.
4. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool and then stir in 3 tbsps of the extra virgin olive oil. This can be eaten simply like this or you can use a blender to make it smoother and thinner, depending on your tastes. 

You can add pasta to this to make the perfect pasta sauce and a little drizzle of virgin olive oil goes a long way for flavour but its not a essential.

This dish can be adapted into a hearty Tagine with gorgeous zesty, Mediterranean flavours!

Ingredients

• 1 can of chickpeas- Tesco 50p
• Butternut squash- Aldi 72p
• Cumin- Tesco 85p
• Cinnamon- 85p
• Coriander- Tesco from fresh 70p
• Lemon zest
• Optional; Cous cous- Aldi 59p

Or how about try a creamy curry to fill your belly and fridge! You will easily be able to preserve this dish to get you through the week!! And you won't need to pop down to your local curry house to make a stunning curry!

Ingredients

• Ginger- 99p Tesco
• Cumin- 85p
• Coriander- 70p
• Turmeric- 85p Tesco
• Yogurt- Aldi Greek style 75p
• Lentils- Tesco £1.15
• Spinach- Sainsburys 90p
• Optional; Basmati rice- Tesco 89p 500g

And if you're not interested in any of these dishes, why not try a Chilli con Quorn! Instead of using beef mince, opt for the cheaper and healthier Quorn mince! Can be stored in your freezer for ages and can be mixed into a spaghetti bolegnese in a time of desperation! This will be hearty and require minimal change to the original tomato sauce!

Ingredients

• Quorn mince- Aldi £1.49
• Red kidney beans- Tesco everyday value 30p
• Smoked paprika- Tesco 85p
• Chilli flakes- 85p
• Brown rice- Aldi 99p
• Optional; Tortialla- Aldi 79p

I would use brown rice over basmati rice for this Chilli because it is much more authentic and will help to bring out the flavour of the Chilli rather than blend with the flavours. Why not try making a tortialla bowl as well!! Mould the tortilla over a ball of kitchen foil and bake in the oven for 5-10 mintues until hard. Pour your chilli inside and voila!