Roasted Tomato Sauce

Pureed roasted tomato sauce

Tomato season! I love tomato season. Well, it is not quite tomato season-- not the beautiful sun ripened tomatoes. But I do not despair because nonsupermarket tomatoes are available and I am roasting them. I love roasted tomato sauce and they are the perfect use for the "not quite tomato season" tomatoes. I ask for the canners at the farmers' markets because you don't need the perfect tomatoes for this sauce. I chop them up, add a bunch of onions, garlic, oil, and herbs to them, and roast them.  Once they cool, I throw them in the food processor (which means you don't have to be obsessive about your chopping). Yes, it is truly that easy. Dishing the sauce into bags and vacuum packing for easy freezing makes an evening meal a snap.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

A Lot of Tomatoes, Diced (We diced about 6 pounds of tomatoes)
Garlic (1-4 Cloves), Chopped (This time I used garlic chives from the CSA)
One Small Onion or Half of a Large Onion, Diced
A Couple of Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Fresh Herbs, Chopped (I like to use parsley, basil, and rosemary)
Crushed Red Pepper (Or a dried hot pepper, crushed)
Kosher Salt, To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper (I Use a Fair Amount of Pepper)

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4  (I prefer to convention roast at 350F/180C/Gas Mark4 so I have an evenly heated oven for multiple trays). Throw all of the ingredients into a bowl or food safe plastic bag and toss. I don't measure the ingredients but taste to determine seasonings.

Pour onto cookie sheets and spread so the tomatoes are in a single layer (I line mine with aluminum foil and coat the foil with a thin layer of oil).

Ready to roast

Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. Cool on trays. Process in the food processor or blender until smooth. The lovely sauce can be the base for pasta sauce, Bloody Marys, soups, chicken cacciatore (one of my all time favorite dishes)....

Cooling

The bottom line: How much of this will I make over the summer?  A lot. I freeze it in vacuum sealed bags and enjoy it through year until the next summer.