Passata and Caramelised Onion Chutney

The tomatoes are doing brilliantly, so much so that I needed to reduce the pile on the kitchen window sill into something yummy. I couldn't be bothered to peel them all for a normal pasta sauce, so I went for Passata. I just chopped all my tomatoes in half and squished out the major pips, then cooked them for an hour in a large pan with plenty of salt, fresh basil, oregano and a teeny splash of balsamic vinegar.

One hour of simmering later I passed the gloop through a sieve to remove the skins and remaining pips. We had the sauce on some spaghetti, with Parmesan and black pepper. The husband said it was just like the sauce he had in Italy with his brother a fair few years back, result!

I also made some Onion Chutney this week, to go with a triangle of Wensleydale I had in the fridge. This is easy peasy. You need about 4-6 brown onions t make a jar full. For each onion put a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of soft brown sugar in a mug. Slice your onions finely, saute very slowly in a little butter for 30 mins. When nice and soft bung in your sugar and balsamic mix, some fresh or dried thyme, a few raisins, bits of apple if you like, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and cook down for a further ten mins or so till sticky. Put in a jar when cooled a bit (sterilise the jar with boiling water or in the oven). Keeps for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

We had this in baguettes (mine GF) with some big chunks of the cheese, mmmmmmmmmmmmm.