Roasted Tomato Sauce
Roasted Tomato Sauce is cooked slowly for that deep, caramelized tomato flavour. A mixture of dried and fresh spices contribute to the complex richness. It’s worth the time, and easy to put together in an afternoon.
We like to use Roma tomatoes for this recipe – they roast up beautifully and create a velvety sauce. Roma tomatoes tend to have less seeds and are more meaty. Use tomatoes from your garden or from the store; both work very well!
How long does Roasted Tomato Sauce take to make?
Prepping the ingredients doesn’t take very long – mostly measuring out spices and slicing and coring the tomatoes. Then the tomatoes are roasted in a low oven for 2 hours, before turning up the heat and blasting them for a final 30 minutes. Then the tomatoes are processed in a food processor or high speed blender until a lovely sauce forms. Total time: 3 hours.
Let’s talk about the ingredients for Roasted Tomato Sauce
Tomatoes – We like to use Roma or other paste-type tomato because of the low amount of seeds and water. Really, you can use any tomato as long as you scoop out the seeds, etc. No need to peel!
Spices – A blend of Italian seasoning (make your own!), salt & pepper. For a spicier sauce, add a bit of crushed red pepper flakes!
Herbs – Fresh basil and rosemary are the herbs.
Aromatics — Lots of crushed garlic and diced onion. If I don’t have onion, shallots are a great substitute.
Olive Oil – Use a really good olive oil, or one you like. You can definitely taste it, so make it count!
Balsamic glaze – Adds a hint of vinegary sweetness. If you’d like a more tangy sauce, use balsamic vinegar instead of glaze and omit the sugar.
How to use Roasted Tomato Sauce
Pasta Sauce: We like to use this sauce as a concentrated “flavour base” for spaghetti sauce! We use a bath of this roasted tomato sauce, plus a can or two of crushed tomatoes to bulk it up.
Pizza Sauce: Spread this rich sauce on a pizza shell and add your favourite toppings!
Dipping Sauce: This sauce goes incredibly well with any kind of fried cheese appetizer!
Sandwich Spread: I’m imagining a split Italian bread loaf, spread with this amazing sauce, and then piled high with Italian meats and cheeses and broiled to perfection!
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- Silicone mat or parchment paper
- Knife
- mixing bowls
- food processor or high speed blender
Ingredients
- 10 very large Roma tomatoes or 15-20 small
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ onion diced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
- 1 tablespoon sugar optional
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° F. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Prep ingredients: Crush garlic, dice onion. Cut tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and watery bits from each tomato. Measure out spices and chop herbs.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, add olive oil and onion and stir until mixed. Microwave on high heat for 30 seconds. After removing bowl from microwave, give it a good stir.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the prepared tomatoes. Toss the tomatoes with the oil and onion mixture. Add the spices and mix until tomatoes are well coated.
- Add the seasoned tomatoes to the sheet pan, cut side up. Drizzle over any remaining oil and onion mixture. Sprinkle on the chopped herbs.
- Roast for 2 hours. After 2 hours, increase the heat to 400° F and roast for an additional 30 minutes or until tomatoes are caramelized along the edges and there’s a few dark spots throughout.
- Remove from oven, and scrape the tomatoes and any browned bits into the food processor, along with the balsamic glaze. Pulse a few times until you get a nice chunky sauce. If you’d like it smoother, keep processing until you like the texture.
Notes
