Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

This is an easy way to get rid of your end of season tomatoes. You can make large batches of it with very little effort, and freeze or can it when you’re done. I like this particular sauce on just about anything you’d drench in pasta sauce, but it’s especially tasty on meatball subs. A large handful of freshly chopped basil takes it to another level, but if you don’t have any on hand, you probably won’t miss it that much.

A few comments about this recipe--I like garlic. Lots and lots of it. So feel free to lessen the amount here if you think it's too much for your little tastebuds to handle. Wimp. Second, with this recipe I don't bother deseeding or coring the tomatoes, so if you're picky about that, knock yourself out. Because the sauce get zapped in the food processor, I don't think it's necessary, and I've never prepared it that way. This is lazy tomato sauce. Don't strain yourself. (hehe)

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce w/fresh Basil

4-5 lbs Roma tomatoes, halved
1 large onion, cut into thick slices
1 head of garlic, peeled (of course)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dry vermouth or dry white wine (optional)

1. In a roasting pan or baking dish, add the tomato, onion, and garlic cloves, then sprinkle with the seasoning and drizzle with olive oil. I often use a Stoneware baking dish to roast mine, but a casserole dish will do just fine. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350º, stirring once or twice during cooking time.

2. Let the tomato mixture cool for about half an hour before processing/blending. When cool enough, place the roasted veggies in your blender or food processor and blend until the mixture is fairly smooth. If you want a thinner sauce or you need a little extra liquid, add a little white wine of dry vermouth the sauce while mixing. Note: You may have to process the sauce in batches depending on the size of the mixer you're using.

3. Return to a sauce pan after you've reached the desired consistency and add lots of freshly chopped basil, heating on low until the sauce is warm again. Or put the sauce in jars or freezer containers for storage.

Notes on Storage: Admittedly, I never got around to doing any canning this year. But I have been freezing sauce for later use. For freezing tomato sauce I recommend using smaller containers and filling them as much as possible. For extra small servings, try using Ball (plastic) freezer jars.