Slow, Unique Tomato Sauce

Good things take time. Everyone knows it. Traditional tribes soak their grains for the time it would take them to reach a shop. Indians let their spices meld overnight for a better curry. Holidays are better when they're longer. So I had an idea to transform this ingrained knowledge to an Italian favourite: tomato sauce.

Not exactly squeezy bottle, catsup-inspired ketchup, I mean the stuff you could ladle over chicken schnitzel (like I did last night - recipe will be coming soon!). Stuff you could toss into pasta if that's your thing. Stuff that makes anything boring taste much better. It's not much of a dipping sauce, but a ladle sauce. And you'll want a ladle for it too. You could even use it as a soup with some sprouted bread if you only want a small meal (or an entree).

The sauce turns out very individual to the last one you made, once you've made this more than once. And you can't just go 'I want that awesome sauce' right off the bat. Give yourself time to treasure this amazing stuff that's gone in two seconds at my house.

And no, apart from the obvious 'tomatoes' you're not going to guess the ingredients until you read the recipe. Guaranteend.

Unique Tomato Sauce

1 batch osso buco, cooked in a runny tomato-based sauce

arrowroot (optional)

Eat the osso buco. (never thought I'd see that as a first instruction!) Leave plenty of liquid-sauce behind.

Pour the sauce into a saucepan that fits it, and bring it to a boil where it's not overflowing but not simmering either.

Keep it on a high simmer (should I call it that?), stirring occasionally to scrape the sides, until reduced to your liking, preferably 1/4 - 1/5 of the size it was at the beginning.

Ladle over food and enjoy!

Roasted Broccoli Soup

I've always wondered what the difference between a vegetable soup and a vegetable purée was.

Well. Wonder no more. Just get your oven, stove and blender of choice ready and prepare yourself for the simplest way to pack as much liquid flavour into broccoli as possible.

This is actually super easy, and doesn't take very long hands on time to do. Especially for the warm hug of flavour you get from it.

Roasted Broccoli Soup

2 heads broccoli
olive oil, for roasting, for frying and adding at the end
4 cloves garlic
500ml broth, plus water

Chop the broccoli into pretty large florets, cover with oil (especially the brushy bits) and pop into a prelined dish. Roast in a preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until tender.

Fry garlic cloves in a large saucepan with some oil in the bottom on low, until slightly brown. Add the broccoli (with the roasting olive oil too, if you like) and fry it a little if you want.
Pour in the broth, and if the water level doesn't reach to nearly the top of the broccoli, add some water until nearly covered.
Heat the water until hot (not boiling - it ruins the gelatine in the broth) and let it go for 10 - 15 minutes.
Purée the contents of the pot. I used a stick blender, which is a lot easier, but feel free to pour it into a normal blender and do it like that. Blend to your consistency liking (I like mine chunky).
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil on top.