Magic sauce; multi use sauce, packed with vegetables
We've christened this multi use vegetable packed sauce as ‘Magic Sauce’ for two reasons. Firstly, one big batch can provide you with multiple different easy meals across the week. Secondly, it is the only way I have ever managed to make my kids eat mushrooms. Magic! (OK, they don’t realise that they are eating mushrooms, but one step at a time….).
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil, for frying
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 130 g carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 70 g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 400 g chopped tomatoes or passata (using better quality really makes a difference to the flavour here)
- Pinch of brown sugar
- 200 ml low salt vegetable stock (always check the ingredients for allergens)
Instructions
- Firstly prepare your veg as outlined above. You want to chop into relatively small pieces so it cooks quickly, but don’t worry about dicing too finely as you will be taking a blender to the whole thing at the end!
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat and fry the chopped onion and carrots for a few minutes until they soften. Then add the garlic and sliced mushrooms, and cook for another five minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes (chopped or passata), balsamic vinegar, veg stock and sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes covered, then a further 10 minutes uncovered to allow it to reduce and thicken slightly. Stir occasionally.
- Once cooked, blend until smooth using either a stick blender or food processor.
- This will keep for around 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. It also freezes very well - I freeze into portions using a silicone mini muffin tray!
Notes
- If you or your child has an allergy, always double check that the recipe and all of the components are suitable. This includes checking ‘may contain’ statements on each ingredient and making your own assessment of risk based on personal circumstances.