Simple Tomato Sauce

Preparation time: 15 minutes Servings: 6

Cook time: 35 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

3x 400g / 14 oz chopped tomatoes in a tin
2 medium-size onion
3 tablespoons veg oil (or lard)
2 – 3 tablespoons plain flour
1.1 liter / 2 pints boiling water
1 medium-size lemon
2 cubes beef stock
6 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
6 allspice
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons sugar (or clear honey)

The Czech tomato sauce is one of the most popular side dishes in the Czech Republic (if I don’t count that dill sauce). It has been usually served hot with Czech dumplings, pasta or even rice and a piece of the beef or chicken meat… but the meatballs are ok too. It really depends on your creativity… The recipe is little ‘simplified’. We are not going to use a beef broth but just some beef stock cubes to save a big chunk of the time. Nevertheless, the taste is still nice and you are not Ramsay Gordon to judge me… So, wrap it up, and let’s make our Czech tomato sauce…

Instructions:

First, get a bigger pot or a saucepan… Add veg oil ( or the lard), softly chop onions and fry it for around 5 minutes. The onion will turn transparent or even start golden brown. Don’t overdo it.
Add the flour. Stir for another 2 minutes. Now pour carefully the boiling water into the saucepan, while you are stirring. Then add the chopped tomatoes from tins and all herbs and cook for 25 – 30 minutes.
In the next step strain the tomato sauce through the strainer to split the herbs and other rubbish from the sauce. Put the stirred tomato sauce back, add the lemon juice, salt, and sugar. 6 tablespoons should be ok but it depends on your preferences if you like the sweet, add more sugar or lemon juice until you are happy with the taste. Cook for another couple minutes.
Done!

You can serve it with some Czech dumplings, pasta, or rice with some meat right away but I prefer to leave it overnight in the fridge to get the tomato sauce.

So, a good appetite.