BBQ Chilli Sauce

On Saturday I spotted some sunshine beginning to peek through the clouds.  Then it began to burn off the clouds and I saw a wide expanse of blue sky and found the sun on the patio.  It was so warm it got up to 17 degrees in the back, North facing, garden.  What better excuse to pull out the BBQ than a bit of sunshine? Do I even need an excuse?

I love cooking on the grill outdoors.  It makes your food taste of summer I think, even in the depths of winter. We had some fabulous sirloin steak in the house as himself had been to a butchery demonstration on Tuesday (more on that later in the week).  So I pulled together a few salads and bread, treated the steak with the respect it deserves and made my chilli BBQ sauce.

The 12 year old calls this sauce the “killer” because it doesn’t take your breath away at first or even second taste. What it does is gives your lips a mild chilli tingle which gradually increases to a warmth. It keeps in a sealed jar in the fridge for weeks so you can come back to it again and again. This makes 500ml of sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 red onions
• 1 white onion
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 30g of tomato puree
• 30ml of vinegar (cider is best but malt is grand if you’re stuck)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

Equipment

• 1 large wide bottomed saucepan with a lid
• 1 large spoon
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 chopping board
• Stick blender
• 1 large resealable jar

Method

1. Peel and finely slice the onions.
2. Put the saucepan on a medium heat and add the sunflower oil to the pan.
3. After 3 mins pour in your finely sliced onions.
4. Stir on the medium heat to prevent the onions from over cooking at the bottom of the saucepan and/or sticking.
5. This is the most time consuming part, cook the onions on a medium heat until they soften. This takes about 20 mins.
6. Add the chilli flakes, tomato puree, sugar, salt and worcestershire sauce. Stir well.
7. Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes, stir again.
8. Turn the heat to low, put the lid on the top of the saucepan and simmer for 1 hour.
9. After 1 hour turn the heat off, leave the lid on and leave to cool for about 20 mins.
10. Pulse with the stick blender until a smooth sauce and decant into the jar.

Don’t forget my competition is still running here so why not enter if you haven’t already?