Ingredients: tomatoes (preferably “San Marzano” or other plum tomatoes), olive oil (preferably extra virgin), shallot, basil, salt, sugar.

Optionals: dried chilli/chilli powder, garlic, dried tomatoes, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).

Preparation:

1. Cut the shallots, peel them and cut them in half, then cut the halves in thin slices.

1. If you choose to use garlic too take a few cloves, peel them, and press on them with the flat of a knife.

2. Take a pan, wet its bottom with a thin veil of olive oil, and turn the flame on at medium heat.

3. Put the cut shallots and garlic in the pan.

4. Peel the tomatoes and cut them in small pieces (I suggest cutting them in four following their length first and then cut slices that are about 1-2 cm thick, about half an inch or a bit more for our American friends, out of those sections).

5. When the shallots start to turn light brown, put the tomatoes in the pan.

6. Stir the tomatoes for a few minutes, then add a bit of water in the pan, it should be around 1 cm (again, about half an inch) deep if the pan is flat.

7. Put a lid on the pan and let the tomatoes dissolve slowly, stirring once every few minutes (if you don’t have a large enough lid, use tinfoil instead).

1. If you see that the sauce is becoming too dry, add more water.

2. If the water starts to boil vigorously, lower the heat, there should never be too much bubbling.

3. If the bubbling stops completely, turn the heat higher.

8. When the tomatoes have pretty much dissolved (this can usually take from 20 to 50 minutes) you can remove the lid.

9. Add a few pinches of salt and a pinch of sugar, stir and taste. If the sauce still tastes too acidic add one or two more pinches of sugar. Do not salt to taste yet.

10. At this point you can mince a few basil leaves and add them to the pan. If you chose to add dried or powdered chilli add those too to the sauce.

1. Remove the garlic at this point if you added it.

11. Add some more water, about half as much as you added at the start (don’t add water if you had to add it before and there’s still some remaining).

1. If you have dried tomatoes, mince one and add it to the sauce at this point.

12. Turn the heat as low as possible while still letting the sauce bubble a bit and let the water slowly evaporate, stirring every couple of minutes.

13. When the sauce seems to have reached the right consistency, turn off the heat.

14. Salt to taste.

1. If the sauce still seems a bit too acidic at this point, add the tip of a teaspoon of baking soda. Be careful not to add too much baking soda or to add it when the sauce is still boiling, it might make the sauce bitter.

Your sauce made with fresh tomatoes is ready!

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Now you can use it for other preparations or just put it on some pasta, maybe with a couple of fresh basil leaves.