Roasted Tomato Sauce
I know the idea of fast and easy for most of us is opening a jar of tomato sauce. Yes, that’s fast and easy, but why not make your own sauce? You’ll find it has so much more flavor and yet, is so simple to make. I like to get home at the end of the day, cut up some tomatoes and throw them in the oven. They cook while I work on other chores around the house like feeding the dog and cat.
It was a great year for backyard garden tomato harvests (and you can still find good tomatoes at the grocery store) and making a homemade tomato sauce is a great way to use them and enjoy the great flavors of summer at the end of the season. You can also easily make a large batch of this sauce and freeze it to use later in the winter, just another way to preserve the summer harvest!
- 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped into quarters and eighths
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup to 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock (IF NEEDED)*
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- On a baking sheet, place tomatoes and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, just to coat.
- Roast in oven for 30 minutes; shake pan around and roast for another 30 minutes.
- In a pot on the stove top, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add in the shallot and garlic and sauté until softened but not browned. Add in all the tomatoes and juices and stir. Stir and smash tomatoes; add broth to loosen the mixture up if needed. Stir in the basil and simmer until ready to use.
- If you want a smoother consistency, you can use an immersion blender or regular blender to pulse it until smooth.
- Use this sauce for pasta or wherever else you need a tomato sauce. It’s so easy and tasty.
- *Some tomatoes have more water than others. When you roast the tomatoes they should produce a lot of water, which will help form the sauce. If your tomatoes don’t produce the water they will caramelize and give a great flavor but you will need broth to loosen the sauce up.
