Quick tomato sauce

This is one of those sauces that take less than 10 minutes to prepare and just half an hour to cook. It soon becomes a household staple. I make it in bulk and freeze it in relatively small portions – enough for two, say – so that I can whip it out for leftover suppers, especially pasta, pizzas, meat or fish balls, casseroles and bakes. It’s a truly basic recipe, so feel free to tinker with the quantities of onion or garlic to suit your taste. You could add a big pinch of dried chilli flakes, a handful of basil or thyme or a couple of anchovy fillets, or pepper it with stoned black olives and rinsed capers. For a really gutsy pasta sauce, add a skinned, chopped chorizo or a small glass of red wine right at the start, once the onion has softened. You really can’t go wrong with it.

• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes so that they soften but do not colour. 
• Add all the other ingredients and stir well, squashing down any tomato lumps to help break them up (if you want this sauce to cook quickly, strain the tinned tomatoes before using them – but I prefer to condense that liquid by cooking, which deepens the flavour). 
• Bring the sauce to a very gentle simmer and cook slowly for 20-30 minutes, until it has reduced and thickened. You will need to stir it from time to time, and watch that it doesn’t catch and burn at the bottom. Check the seasoning. Either use straight away or cool and store in the fridge (for 3-5 days) or freezer (for 3-4 months).