I wanted a thick tomato sauce that had a rich flavour in a relatively short time. I started by chopping and sautéing a brown onion in a lidded, ceramic, non-stick pan at a medium to low heat to caramelise the onion. In another pot, I added about 800 grams of crushed organic tomatoes with a cup of homemade soup stock (no salt or fats added), 1 tbs onion powder, 1 tbs Italian spice mix, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp grey sea salt and a handful of thinly sliced organic sun-dried tomatoes (dried, not in oil). I mixed these all together and brought the sauce to a boil and reduced the heat letting it simmer while the onion slowly cooked. I periodically checked the sauce and onions giving them a stir. After about 20-30 minutes, I added a large pinch of chilli flakes to the sauce.

I put a pot of water on for the pasta.

Meanwhile I made myself a salad with butter leaf lettuce, chopped red onions, julienned carrots and chopped red pepper. I juiced half a lime, added a tsp of homemade mustard, a clove of garlic and a pinch of salt for the dressing and tossed it into the salad.

When the onions were beautifully sweet and caramelised, I took them off the burner and let them sit covered until I was ready. When the sauce had reduced sufficiently, I mixed in the onions and turned off the heat. .

I cooked a serving of Jovial cassava penne for 13 minutes, drained and placed it in a bowl topped with the sauce. Dinner consisted of a bowl of pasta with salad.

The pasta sauce had a deep, sweet flavour with a kick of spice! It had no fats added but plenty of flavour. There was another two servings left for another day!

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