Theodore Kyriakou's Tomato Sauce

This is Greek chef and restaurateur Theodore Kyriakou's recipe for a tomato sauce to use when a tomato sauce is called for in a Greek recipe. But you could, of course, use it whenever you need a tomato sauce. Of this recipe he says, "This sauce will keep for months provided that every time you spoon some out you, you make good the olive oil seal across the top by smoothing out the solid oil with the back of a spoon." I am posting this for the 2005 Zaar World Tour. The quantity of sauce this recipe makes will, of course, depend on the size of your jars. Obviously, this is also a recipe that can be made in larger quantities when tomatoes are at their best; and I am confident that it would freeze extremely well. I've successfully frozen other tomato sauce based recipes, without any loss in flavour or quality.

• Ready In: 1 hr 25 mins
• Yields: 3 jars tomato sauce

Ingredients

• 2  kg plum tomatoes (if you are making this in the wrong season for tomatoes, use 1 kg of good passata)
• 4  garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
• 3  bay leaves
• 3  cm cinnamon sticks
• 250  g shallots, peeled and sliced lengthways, but not chopped
• 230  ml olive oil
•  sea salt, to taste
•  fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Skin the tomatoes by scoring them and dropping them into boiling water and counting to 10 before removing them. Drain, rub the skin off, de-seed and roughly chop.
2. Add the tomatoes to a large pot with garlic, bay leaves and cinnamon.
3. Add enough water to barely cover them and bring them to the boil; skim, then turn the heat down and cook for 20 minutes, skimming occasionally.
4. Add the shallots and continue to cook, uncovered, until they are soft, about 35-45 minutes. By then the tomatoes should have lost most of their liquid and the sauce should be beginning to thicken.
5. Season to taste and stir in 200 ml (just over 3/4 cup) of olive oil, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
6. Remove the sauce from the heat and while it is still hot, put it into a sterilised preserving jar. Float the remaining olive oil across the surface of the sauce to act as a seal.
7. Allow to cool and store in the fridge where it will keep for 3-4 months.