Homemade Pasta Sauce made Easy with Philips Jamie Oliver Blender

We attended a Health Talk by a Nutritionist two months ago. Since then, we have been painfully aware of the dangers, unhealthy facts of processed foods. Everyone knows that if you grow your own veg, farm your own animals and made your own food from scratch, you get the whole goodness of all the produce. But with my abilities and lack of patience, I can’t even rear a pet fish successfully, or manage a simple non-flowering plant. There’s no way I can grow a tomato or rear chickens to get those organic eggs.

The best way was then to cook from scratch as much as we can. Yup, the key words: AS MUCH AS WE CAN.

The domestic helper is off for these 3 weeks, so I get to “reclaim” the kitchen queen title. I planned this for a full two months. I will show the kids and the husband, it can be done. We will start with the simple generic Pasta Sauce. (How tough can this be? Just throw everything together right?)

Well, with much much thanks to Philips’ Jamie Oliver Blender, I got to do just that. MAKE PASTA SAUCE FROM SCRATCH!

I confess. I’m a Blender virgin. I’ve NEVER used a blender in my entire life. I’ve seen it on TV, and the closest proximity I have to it is what they use at the Bubble Tea shops! ahem… So I was quite excited to try this out, on my own (the husband is a Blender virgin too, and I’m quite sure he wants to remain one)

Putting together the Blender was really easy. I just put the heavy duty 1.5 litre glass jar on the machine, turn and listen for the click. And that’s it! We’re ready!

Now, there’s a reason why this is a Jamie Oliver Blender. Cos the man himself co-designed this with electronic giant Philips! He uses it so simply in his shows and books, especially in the famous 15 minute meals that he comes up with. The Blender comes with many Jamie Oliver recipes so we can replicate all that gorgeous food dishes!

This is what I prepared for the Pasta Sauce:

• 14 Ripe Tomatoes
• 3 Large Garlic Cloves
• 2 Large Yellow Peppers
• 1 Large Red Pepper
• 3 Celery Sticks
• 3 Medium Carrots
• Basil Leaves
• Dash of Thyme

With a good lot of Olive Oil in a heated pan, I fried everything together.

Then I threw in about 4 cups of Chicken Stock (my leftover soup from dinner) and brought it to boil, and simmered for 10 minutes.

Then, I poured half of that into the Blender. And I STOPPED.

I realised there’s no turning back once I switch on the blender. The instructions say: “Pop the lid on and whiz on setting 2 (maximum) until smooth”. I have a phobia from too much TV. I was worried the blender goes bonkers and splatter beautiful pasta sauce over the entire kitchen. (Have you seen that cartoon?)

This is exactly what I did:

1. Took a picture of the blender with the sauce in it
2. Turn the knob to Setting 2
3. Count One thousand, Two thousand, Three thousand, Four thousand
4. Switched knob back to OFF

And here’s what happened:

It was done! Just four seconds! Everything was blended to a creamy consistency! Just to be sure, I switched it on again for another 4 seconds! (It didn’t explode or splatter anything!)

That’s the special thing about this blender. It has the ProBlend5 Technology which uses Titanium coated blades to ensure a smooth blended result! It’s perfect for smoothies, sauces and soups!!

The easy handle and sprout design made it a breeze for me to pour the sauce into bottles to store this precious sauce.

And the next day, we had the freshest tasting Spaghetti Bolognese ever!

The entire family loved the sauce. I am so inspired that I’m going to the markets next week to buy MORE tomatoes and add in new Vegetables so I can make MORE sauce! I’m elated that healthy eating is not out of reach for my family. And the best part? There were no small parts to wash for the blender during cleaning up!

Easy Peasy.

Keep life simple with the PHILIPS | Jamie Oliver range which includes a food processor (S$268), hand blender (S$128) and blender (S$108). Available at leading electronics and departmental stores.

Disclaimer: I received the Philips Jamie Oliver Blender for review, and this is a part of a series of posts on Philips kitchen products.