Versatile vegetable sauce

This sauce is ideal for pasta bakes, to spread as the base for homemade pizza and even over fish or chicken. It uses up plenty of those tired looking vegetables like pumpkin or butternut squash, tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, shallots, leeks or onions, garlic or herbs that may be lurking in your fridge MAKES ABOUT 800ml INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp rapeseed oil

• 60g shallots, peeled and sliced

• 100g leeks, sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, sliced

• 200g peeled, diced pumpkin or butternut squash

• 1 red pepper, diced

• 1 yellow pepper, diced

• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 400ml canned diced tomatoes or fresh diced ones

• 100ml vegetable stock

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tsp sugar

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

METHOD

1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the shallots and leeks together and sauté for 3 minutes.

2 Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring from time to time before adding the pumpkin or butternut squash, red and yellow peppers. Stir well. Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

3 Add the rosemary and thyme sprigs. Stir in the canned or fresh tomatoes and vegetable stock. Add the tomato puree, sugar and stir well.

4 Increase the heat until the mixture comes to the boil, then reduce the heat to low.

5 Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring from time to time. Check the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or sugar if needed.

6 Add the chopped parsley. Pour into a blender and purée until smooth. This will keep for up to 5 days in your fridge in a sterilised sealed jar or it can be frozen in portions.