One of my favourite meals, also happens to be one of the simplest – pasta and home made Napoletana sauce, preferably with a dollop of fresh ricotta and a generous grating of Parmesan cheese. 

Best of all, the basic ingredients are shelf stable and with an organised, well stocked pantry they are within easy reach which means fewer last minute trips to the supermarket. The other ingredients are what I consider to be “refrigerator essentials” because they are added to many of my home cooked meals, including after school snacks. 

The following sauce recipe can be ladled over your pasta of choice. I happened to have good quality spinach ravioli in my freezer and decided to use this for our evening meal. Dried durum wheat or egg pasta works just as well. If you have the time (and a pasta machine) it’s worth making your own ravioli which is a real treat. I must do this on our next rainy weekend and I will include the recipe and step-by-step instructional photos. 

This recipe makes about 2 litres of sauce, which can also be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for a month. You can also bottle the sauce in sterilised jars and keep them in a cool spot for 3 months. I always make a double batch and store half for those days when a meal is required in record time. 

Napoletana Sauce

1 x tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
50 grams unsalted butter – if you prefer not to use butter, just double the amount of olive oil, but I find it adds richness and flavour. 
1 x large onion (brown or white)
6 x cloves garlic
2 x medium zucchini
1 x long stick of celery
4 x 400 gram tins of chopped tomatoes
half a bunch of fresh basil (leaves only) – if you don’t have fresh basil handy, then add half a teaspoon of the dried variety. Basil is so easy to grow that it’s worth having a couple of pots with this versatile herb growing all year round. 
1 x teaspoon dried Italian herbs
2 x teaspoons sea salt
good grind of black pepper
2 x teaspoons brown sugar

Using a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over a medium heat. I recommend using a large saucepan to prevent the sauce from bubbling over and splattering the stove. 

Finely dice all the fresh vegetables, add to the saucepan and and sauté for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat until they start to soften. Don’t hurry this stage because it is important for the flavours to be released which add a sweetness to the overall sauce. If the ingredients start to stick, reduce the heat and stir. 

Add the tinned tomatoes and the remaining ingredients. Fill two of the tins with tap water, add to the mixture and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Then, reduce to a low heat, clamp on the lid and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. 

Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if required. You can serve as is in it’s thickened, chunky form, or blend the sauce before serving or storing. I use a Barmix hand held blender which can go straight into the saucepan and is a huge time saver. If you don’t have one, then a traditional blender will also do the job but wait until the sauce has cooled to room temperature to prevent burning. 

My house ended up having the most marvellous cooking aromas today; a combination of garlicky, basil infused Napoletana sauce and mouth watering chocolate. Ah yes, I also made a batch of chocolate brownies, as per the recipe posted on May 24 under Tried and Tested Chocolate Brownies.  Whether it was due to the bucketing rain across Sydney today, or because I had a pregnant woman’s craving for chocolate it was the perfect way to round off a winter weekend. I also stuffed squares of brownies into the children’s lunch boxes as a Monday school week treat.