As I rummaged in the bottom of the fridge for something to make for dinner last week I pulled out a bag of tomatoes bought for salads and not used because the weather over Christmas was so cool.

I blanched them, whipped off the skins and let them simmer with onion, bay leaves and basil to make a quick pasatta. The colour of the resulting sauce was glorious and we scored two meals out of it – a simple stir through with pasta, fresh herbs and parmesan and a base for my turkey meatballs.