Lovely story – funny. Love the grenade effect. So true. Pip shrapnel is no joke on a white shirt.

I live in Italy – we bottle hundreds of bottles of tomato sauce by boiling in water. Blitzing (or you can buy the proper machine) and either straining and boil to reduce – or keep rustic, don’t strain and reduce. Add salt to taste and pour into bottle while hot with a little olive oil (2 tablespoons) and a sprig of fresh basil (chili works well too for arrabbiata), seal and turn upside down and cover with a thick blanket till cool then label with type (tomato / / herb / arrabbiata etc) and date. Lasts a year.

Or pasteurise in the sealed bottles by stacking the bottles in a big pot of cold water and bring to a boil with a dishcloth at the bottom so glass isn’t constantly in contact with metal (I’ve not had one explode but safer than sorry is my motto), leave boiling for an hour or so, switch off and allow to cool in the pot. Will last forever

Tastes so much better than bought sauce and is incredibly easy to make. Great gifts too for the oversupplied chutney friends.

Enjoy