Pasta Sauce

This recipe focuses on the sauce itself as dried pasta is available in almost every shape and size and is simple to cook.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil (for frying - virgin is okay but don't bother with extra virgin olive oil as any benefits will be lost when it is heated up)
• freshly ground Black Pepper
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 medium Onions
• 1 Red or Green Pepper
• 4 - 6 medium sized Mushrooms (don't bother with button mushrooms, they are tasteless - using fewer, bigger mushrooms will be better)
• 500mls Sieved Tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• pinch of Oregano

Method:

Chop the garlic, onions and pepper and place in a wok (yes a wok - this is by far the best thing to fry anything in apart from pancakes although a frying pan or better a deep saucepan will do) with some olive oil. Fry, adding some black pepper to taste.

When about three quarters done, add the sliced mushrooms, letting most of them fry in with the body of the fried food but letting some slices come into prolonged contact with the hot side of the wok so that they brown quite a bit - this will let you maintain the texture of the mushroom whilst enjoying the flavour of the cooked mushroom as well, hence don't use button mushrooms.

When cooked to your satisfaction, add the sieved tomatoes, salt (to balance the tomatoes - yin and yang et cetera - try it. If you get it right, about one teaspoon per 500mls of sieved tomatoes, then it will taste perfect) and oregano. Heat until almost boiling and then add the drained, boiled pasta and stir in (or, if you prefer, put the pasta on the dishes and then pour the pasta sauce over the top - whatever takes your fancy).

Variations:

1. You can add some creamed coconut lemon grass and chilli for a slightly different emphasis in the meal.
2. Add some wine to make the sauce richer.

Storage:

If not eaten immediately, either store in a refrigerator and eat within a few days (animal free cooking lasts so much longer than the meat variants) or freeze it in portion sized tubs ready to microwave (remembering that the maximum thickness should be around one inch for best results from reheating).

Serving suggestions:

Serve with any type of pasta that you like. Goes nicely with a dry wine (the alcohol cuts through the oil and leaves the mouth feeling clean) - forget all of this nonsense about only drinking certain colours of wine only with certain types of dish, drink what you like and ignore the wine-apartheid bigots.