Georgia Levy
Serves: 4-5 (makes 500ml)
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1kg British Tomatoes - whichever type you like
Optional: 1 bell pepper / courgette / aubergine / vegetable of your choice
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 red onions
Large handful of fresh basil, or herb of your choice - thyme, rosemary or oregano also works well!
1 tbsp tomato puree
1-2 tsp sugar
Optional: 2 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
Recipe & Styling by Georgia Levy. Recipe featured on British Tomato Growers Association website.
Who doesn’t love a flavourful, simple tomato sauce? It is delicious as a pasta sauce, or with meat and fish – whatever you fancy really. And it freezes well!
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C.
Cut up your tomatoes – cherry tomatoes in half, larger tomatoes into quarters
Cut up the onion and (if using) the additional vegetables into chunks. Add these and the tomatoes into a roasting tin, add the olive oil, salt & pepper as preferred and mix well.
Cut a little off the top of the garlic bulb to expose the tips of the cloves. Sit the bulb upright in a small piece of foil (big enough to wrap and cover the bulb) and drizzle a little olive oil over the top and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb in the foil and place in the roasting tray.
Add the tray to the preheated oven and cook for around 30 minutes. If using basil, add 20 minutes into roasting. If using other woody herbs add into the roasting tin at the beginning, removing any stalks.
Remove the pan when the tomatoes and veg are soft and slightly caramelised and the garlic bulb is soft. Allow to cool slightly.
Either tip the roasted tomatoes into a food processor or a pan/bowl suitable to use a handheld blender. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb into the mixture. Add the other ingredients – puree, sugar, vinegar.
Process the mixture until smooth, adding in a little water or stock if required to reach a good sauce consistency. Taste and add salt & pepper as preferred.
Reheat and enjoy with pasta or with whatever you fancy!
Alternatively, freeze into small portions for an easy, healthy and delicious last minute weekday meal.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
The eventual aim, if possible, is to get kids in the kitchen. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to mean they are with you from start-to-end creating mess and rising stress levels! It can be as simple as giving them one small job (stirring, measuring, pouring, grating, chopping…) ideally involving veg. They can come in to do their little bit, and have fun with you for a few minutes. Getting them involved, making it playful and praising them plenty for their involvement, perhaps even serving it as dinner they “made”, makes it much more likely they will eat the food offered, not to mention teaching them important life skills. Find ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
Georgia Levy
Georgia is a recipe developer, chef and consultant based in London. She believes in fresh, seasonal food, cooked simply and with a sense of fun, and that anyone can enjoy cooking, you just need enthusiasm and a sharp knife! "Stick with me, and I’ll guide you through."
Author of Let’s Do Lunch.
Similar recipes
James and Paul’s Mediterranean Halloumi Traybake
James and Paul Anderson
