Roasted Tomato Sauce

Finished sauce

Sometimes, I want a tomato sauce without all the work. When that happens I might decide to roast them, since roasting brings out so much flavor. As part of my generalized views on food waste, I view this as an “empty the fridge of dodgy produce” kind of recipe that you should adapt to what you need to use up. Even if there aren’t tomatoes in it! Anyway, this is pretty easy to make because you really do not have to pay much mind to what’s happening in your kitchen. Serve it over pasta or maybe on some parmigiana, or maybe use this as pizza sauce. Or cook up some sausage and add it in!

My real goal here is to continue giving affordable options that you can easily adapt to what’s available to you, what you need out of your fridge before it has to be thrown out, and what you actually like. This sauce freezes beautifully, so you may want to double or even triple it so you can cook once and eat a bunch of times!

Here’s what you’ll need

2 1/2 pounds tomatoes (a little closer to 3 pounds, but I snuck some bites), quartered
14 cloves garlic (yes, for real a lot of garlic!)
1 large red onion, cut into eighths
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 stem rosemary, chopped, or whatever fresh herbs you like and have on hand (it’s okay if “none” is the answer here)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or other vinegar (apple cider works fine here, as does distilled; lemon, lime, and grapefruit juices also work well)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch sugar

Here’s what you’ll do

Toss the first group of ingredients into a roasting pan and roast for 1-2 hours (until onions are soft) at 300F. Transfer (with juices) to a saucepan and add the second group of ingredients UNLESS you are using a good quality balsamic. Simmer a half hour, then blend (I left my blend a little chunky, so blend to the level of puree you’re most interested in eating). If it's too thick, add a little stock or water. If it's too thin, cook a little longer. If you're using the good balsamic and you're happy with the texture of the sauce, stir that in. Makes about 4-5 cups.

Real talk here: the struggle to ensure these don’t get immediately nommed and instead make sauce is real.