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| Roasted tomato sauce is sweet and flavourful. |
I can’t resist field-ripened local tomatoes. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the only tomatoes worth eating raw and they’re the very best for making roasted tomato sauce too.
If you’re used to making your tomato sauce on the stovetop you’ll notice that roasting your tomatoes makes the sauce sweet and less acidic. So on a freezing February evening a meal with this sauce tastes like a mouthful of summer.
I pull the skins off most of the tomatoes after they come out of the oven but you can also skin your tomatoes before you put them in the roasting pan. Or you can just leave the skins alone. I freeze dozens of jars of this delicious sauce and find come January the skins have curled up into little sticks and seem a bit tough.
Any who, to skin your tomatoes beforehand, bring a large pot of water to the boil, cut a little “x” in the bottom of each tomato and plop them in the boiling water for 15-20 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and slip off the skins.
If you’re used to making your tomato sauce on the stovetop you’ll notice that roasting your tomatoes makes the sauce sweet and less acidic. So on a freezing February evening a meal with this sauce tastes like a mouthful of summer.
I pull the skins off most of the tomatoes after they come out of the oven but you can also skin your tomatoes before you put them in the roasting pan. Or you can just leave the skins alone. I freeze dozens of jars of this delicious sauce and find come January the skins have curled up into little sticks and seem a bit tough.
Any who, to skin your tomatoes beforehand, bring a large pot of water to the boil, cut a little “x” in the bottom of each tomato and plop them in the boiling water for 15-20 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and slip off the skins.
Use this sauce for pasta, pizza, as a base for soups and stews and any other recipe that calls for tomato sauce or canned tomatoes.
Sometimes I’ll tuck some red pepper or grated carrot under the tomatoes before roasting and have been known to sprinkle in a few red lentils too.
You decide how long you want to roast the tomatoes. I usually roast them for about 45 minutes but it really depends on how large and juicy your tomatoes are.
Roasted Tomato sauce
- About one dozen tomatoes, cored and halved
- 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 large sprigs of fresh herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme) or 1 tsp, dried
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Sea salt
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Spread the sliced onion, garlic, bay leaf, pepper flakes and herbs in the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting plan.
- Lay the tomatoes cut side down on top of the onion mixture.
- Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil
- Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes (until they start to turn brown).
- Remove from the oven and pull the skins off with a pair of tongs. (The skins will be puffed up).
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Let cool, remove the bay leaf and herb stems and whir in the food processor to desired consistency.
Variations:
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Add a grated carrot or some chopped red pepper under the tomatoes.
-
Sprinkle ¼ cup of red lentils under the tomatoes.
