Ingredients

2 Medium Onions (peeled and loosely chopped)
2 Medium Carrots (peeled and loosely chopped)
2 Sticks Celery (loosely chopped)
2 Cloves Garlic (peeled)
500 g Chestnut Mushrooms (loosely chopped)
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
100 ml Red Wine
2 Teaspoons Paprika
2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 (400g) Cans Tomatoes

Steps

Preperation

Place the 3 chopped onions, 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery and 2 cloves of garlic and preheat a pan on the stove.

Cooking Down the Mushrooms

Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry for about 5-7 minutes until the mushrooms have lost most of their moisture. Increase the heat of the pan and pour in the 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 100 ml red wine. Fry the mixture, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick, for about 5 minutes until the red wine has completely reduced and the mushrooms are nicely caramelised. Once cooked, remove the mushrooms from the pan.

Making the Sofrito

Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic mixture. Cover the pan with a lid and sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes until they are nice and soft. Make sure they don't catch, if they are starting to brown you have the pan temperature too high.

Cooking

Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Once simmered your sauce should be nice and rich, season to taste with a good helping of kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Remove from the heat