While I was roaming around on the internet recently, I came across a home-made tomato sauce recipe published on a blog site called The God’s Cake. The author is English and is named Michael, I think, he indicated he has recently returned from Korea. His recipe was listed as follows:

“800g Tinned Whole Plum Tomatoes or You(sic) own poached Tomatoes, peeled (around 9 tomatoes with juice, roughly chopped), 3 garlic cloves, 1 glass of red wine, 1 glass of chicken stock, 1 large onion, hand full of fresh thyme, 2 tsp of sugar,  salt and pepper to season.

First slice thinly the garlic and the onions and in a large pan with olive oil sauté until golden brown and soft, once done add the glass of wine and simmer for around 5 minutes, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix together until the sugar starts to thicken. Then add the tomatoes and stir. Simmer the mixture for a further 5 minutes and then stir in the chicken stock followed by a grind of pepper and salt. Bring the sauce to the boil and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Turn down the heat and simmer for 2 hours adding the thyme leaves. After set the sauce aside and let it cool at room temperature to capture all the flavors.”

I decided to give this one a go. I had most everything in stock. I was forced to go with a can of crushed tomatoes (its winter here), but was good to go on everything else.

Ingredients List:

1 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

10 oz red wine

15 oz can of chicken broth

½ large whole onion, sliced thin

1 tblsp dried thyme, dried basil

1 tsp sugar (I’m assuming white)

1 tblsp olive oil

Salt and pepper as needed

Cooks Notes: I was not sure how much a ‘glass of wine’ or ‘stock’ actually is as was specified in the original text, so I guessed on this. (The author later sent me a note saying it was 250 ml or a little over a cup US) I also guessed at the correct amount for the olive oil. Fresh thyme is also not available where I live, so I substituted some dried. At the last minute, I added some fresh mushrooms and dried oregano for the halibut.

I had a bit of this sauce with some spaghetti for lunch, just a little to test the taste. It was surprisingly good and I will want to make it again. I hope to publish a final personal actual recipe in a future blog after having a chance to adjust some of the ingredients more to my individual tastes! One thing I noted that I have not been able to figure out  is the slightly peppery taste. I did not use much black pepper at all, but that is the only source I can think of. Also, in case I didn’t mention it elsewhere, there was enough sauce for about four medium sized plates. So, if you do elect to make some for company make sure you scale the recipe accordingly.

A final note: I have done a video on this which is so-so, but does show how to make my version pretty well. I hope to also come up with a low sodium version of this sometime soon.