A while ago I posted the recipe for the best tomato sauce we’ve found…well that recipe is a great base for making your own BBQ sauce. It does still contain sugar, if that’s an issue for you, but it’s a lot more wholesome than store bought BBQ sauce!
Balsamic BBQ Sauce
3/4 Cup Tomato sauce
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar (we used organic balsamic from Wrays due to the fact that balsamic vinegar is made from grapes, which are a heavily sprayed crop unless you buy organic)
Garlic- 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic is great, but you can use 1Tbsp powdered or minced garlic if that’s what you have on hand

1/2 Tsp each of salt and pepper
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup coconut sugar (or organic raw sugar)
A nice easy recipe…all you do is mix all those ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and simmer away for about 15 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved and you have a consistency you’re happy with. Then pour into a clean bottle.
I couldn’t tell you precisely how long it lasts, because it’s consumed long before we have to get concerned with use by dates But given the high level of vinegar and sugar, you should get at least 12 months of shelf life.

It's that time of year- tomato season. Rick actually started our tomatoes in a heat chamber in winter, so we'd have a head start this year. It worked. For the past 6 weeks or so we've had loads of tomatoes!

I hate waste (but am trying to come to terms with the fact that giving surplus to the chooks or the worms is not waste...hahaha), so I've been canning like crazy these past few weeks. Every time we harvest tomatoes (about every 2 days) there's about 20kg of them! So the shelves are being stocked with homemade tomato sauce, tomato paste, passata, crushed tomatoes, tomato relish...you get the idea.

We've tried a few different tomato sauce recipes, most of which the children turned their noses up at, but this one I'll share has been beautiful. If you love depth of flavour in a sauce (as opposed to a tomato sauce that just tastes like tomatoes and sugar), then you should give this one a go.

It's a variation on Matt Preston's Tomato Sauce Recipe, which can be found online.

Matt Preston’s Tomato Sauce Recipe…with some changes
 
Makes approx. 1L
2.5kg ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
10 whole cloves
10 whole allspice berries
1Tbsp paprika
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cinnamon
2Tbsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar (we use organic raw sugar or organic coconut sugar)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
 

1. Place tomatoes, onions, spices, garlic and salt in a stock pot over medium heat. Bring to the boil and then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for an hour (or until the tomato breaks down and is tender).
2. Add the sugar and vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for a further hour and 15 minutes, until the mixture reduces, thickens and is a saucy consistency.
3. If desired you can sieve your sauce to remove seeds. We don’t bother. At this point we puree the sauce with a stick mixer and then pour into sterilised glass bottles.
4. Store in a cool, dark place until ready to use. Once bottles are opened, they need to be stored in the fridge.