The Basics 1: Preparing the Onions

A basis for a lot of cooking around the world today is a sauce of tomatoes and the basis of that tomato sauce is the Onion. In order to offset the acidity of the tomatoes and without cheating by adding sugar, the onions need to be well cooked over a long period of time to crystallise the sugars and bring out their Sweetness.

So, take a number of onions, minimum 3 large ones, peel & chop or slice finely through using a good grade of white sweet onion or if affordable, red onions or a mixture of both.

Heat a mixture of Olive Oil & Butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan on a Medium Heat and add the onion. Make sure you use enough fat to coat the chopped onion properly.
The use of the butter and oil combination helps bring out the full sweetness of the onions.

Stir with a Wooden Spoon until the onions start to turn translucent then turn heat to Very Low.

Cover the pan with the lid but leave the spoon inside the pot so that a gap is maintained to allow cooking steam to escape. The onions should now be left to Slow Cook for as long as possible - 1,5 to 3 hours if possible, after which the remaining ingredients of the planned sauce can be added!

Muito bem!