Big news today is that Mars Food, the makers of Dolmio and Uncle Bens pasta sauces and meal kits, is changing its labels in the UK to issue a warning that the sauces should only be consumed ‘occasionally’ because of the their high salt, sugar, and fat content. They do not say if this will extend to Australia, and other products by Mars Food.  But seriously … who buys this stuff when it’s easy-peasy to make your own.

Dolmio labels will soon be changing to read consume ‘occasionally’ instead of everyday. Image – independent.co.uk

We stopped using ready-made sauces years ago, and our favourite pasta sauce is simple fresh vine-ripened tomatoes with hint of garlic and chilli. Even better if your toms come from a nice organic market such as Capital Region Farmers Market (Saturday am) or Choku Bai Jo (North Lyneham and Curtin).

So check it out. We promise you’ll never go back to ready-made sauces!

Photo by LFW

What you need: 3 – 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, 1 very small red chilli (optional), and a teeny drizzle of good quality extra-virgin olive oil.

What you do: Cut your tomatoes in half and pop everything in your food processor and whiz until you get a nice thick sauce. How easy is that? If you don’t have a food processor, chop everything really finely and place in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir constantly (you don’t want it to burn) until it reduces to a nice sauce.

You can vary the sauce by including one or more of the following; a few fresh basil leaves, a couple of mushrooms, a few slices of red pepper, a couple of nice fat fresh olives from the deli, or a tablespoon of grated parmesan. However, we leave it up to people to put their own parmesan on so they can choose how much, or how little, cheese they want. Also best not to include if you’ve got dairy-free people popping round for pasta.

You can also use the basic sauce on your pizza bases.

Fresh and organic veggies from Choku Bai Jo

Eat fresh—eat healthy! Bon appetit!