Garden Fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce

I really can't believe summer is over! This year has both dragged on and flown by at the same time. I am holding on to the last shreds of the simplicity of summer with this dish. There's nothing better than the smell of a homemade sauce. This version uses a different cooking method than the traditional sauce that simmers on the stove all day. By roasting the ingredients it takes on a lighter but rich flavor and texture and comes together in no time, in fact most of the cooking time is hands off. Of course this is a fabulous way to use up the end of summer garden tomato bounty but store bought tomatoes would work here too! I prefer Roma tomatoes for this recipe because they hold up to the cooking method and give a great texture but you can use really any kind you have on hand.  I like to let the sauce shine here and simply serve it over spaghetti but you could substitute this sauce in any recipe. I bet it would make an awesome zucchini parm!

Chef's Note: I recommend an immersion blender for this recipe. They are relatively inexpensive and can be used for LOTS of recipes! It's one of my favorite kitchen gadgets... If you don't have one then you can use a high speed blender instead. 

Total Cook Time: 1 hr 15  minutes

You will need:

*6-8 tomatoes

*1 large sweet yellow onion

3-4 cloves of garlic

olive oil

coarse salt

italian seasoning

basil

**This is really more of a method rather than a recipe in that you can use as many or as few tomatoes as you like. Obviously the more you use the more sauce you have!

First get the tomatoes halved and chop up your onions in chunks. Finely dice garlic.

 Next squeeze the seeds and juices out into a sieve over a bowl. You will want to keep the juice but nobody wants seeds in their sauce!

Dump the tomatoes, garlic and onions into a shallow casserole dish.  You now want to season them!  I personally love this Italian seasoning blend from  Penzeys but if you don't have a blend you can use some dried basil, oregano, garlic salt and onion powder to taste. Sprinkle over the dish and then liberally salt and give a few glugs of olive oil over the top.  Lastly pour in the reserved tomato juice. 

Toss all by hand an arrange as a single layer (as best you can).  . .

Pop in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.. When it comes out of the oven it already looks and smells delicious!  But now it's time to turn these tomatoes into sauce... Transfer to a sauce pan and let sit for 10-15 minutes to cool slightly as you boil water for pasta.  

Then using an immersion blender you want to gently blend the ingredients together to your desired texture/consistency aka how "chunky" you like your sauce.  You can now add some torn basil if you wish for extra flavor. 

Time to enjoy the fruits of you labor by dishing the sauce up over your favorite pasta and digging right in!                                                

PS... Got more tomatoes? Make another batch and freeze in a gallon ziplok to channel summer any time of the year!!