Barbeque Sauce

Homemade barbeque sauce has so much more flavour than bought sauce. And I love that it doesn't have to be full of sugar and additives. I often use the cherry tomatoes that grow wild in our backyard - a cheaper and healthier alternative to bought barbeque sauce!

This recipe is delicious on steak or chicken, or poured over meat and slow-cooked.  If you like it spicier, just add some more fresh chilli, or cayenne pepper.  If it's the wrong season for plums, I just use some tinned ones; about four or five since they're small.

Makes approx. 1 litre of sauce.

1. Weigh the veges and plums into the Thermomix bowl and blend for 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 950g fresh tomatoes (very ripe), halved
- 2-3 dark red plums, deseeded
- 150g red onion
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves 
- 1 red capsicum, halved
- 50g dates, pitted

2. Add remaining ingredients, mix on speed 6 for a few seconds, then cook at Varoma temperature for 45 minutes, speed 3, with the rice basket on the lid instead of the MC. (This lets the steam out so that the sauce reduces, without letting it spit everywhere.)
- 4-5 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
- 100g balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp green stevia powder OR 50g Rapadura or coconut sugar
- 2 tsp worchestershire sauce or tamari sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp ground smoky paprika
- 2 tsp liquid smoke seasoning (opt.)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper

3. Blend for 30 seconds on speed 9.

4. Pour into sterilized bottles or jars and keep in the fridge. Use within a month. For longer storage time, you can use the waterbath canning method to ensure removal of bacteria, then keep in the pantry for up to a year.