Roasted Tomato Sauce

I've found tons of late harvest tomatoes this fall and can't resist bringing them home. I found some Mexican orange tomatoes @ Adrian's Orchard while shopping for cider and our toddler loved eating them out of hand. 


Since I had an abundance of tomatoes of various sizes and colors (red and orange, grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes), I decided to roast them all together to make a fresh tomato sauce. 


I have to admit that I didn't come up with this concept. Ina Garten roasts veggies all of the time on her Barefoot Contessa show. It's also her favorite way to cook shrimp, a technique that I haven't yet tried, but it does appeal to me and the results looked delish on her show.


Here's the technique. Keep in mind that this really isn't a "recipe" per say in that it can be used on nearly any amount of tomatoes you have on hand. If you have larger tomatoes - like Romas - simply cut them in half before putting them on the baking sheet. Also, the end product of the roasting is very different from a sundried tomato, much more juicy and much more versatile!


How to Oven Roast Tomatoes
Preheat your oven to 350.


Wash tomatoes and blot dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel. If you have larger size tomatoes - such as Roma or small slicing tomatoes - cut them in half after drying.


Place tomatoes on a baking sheet. You want one that has a lip or rim around the edge. A baking dish would work too. The only criteria is that you don't want to crowd the sheet so that plenty of heat can surround each tomato. If you have too many tomatoes, place half on a second sheet. You can roast up to two pans at the same time on separate racks in your oven.


Drizzle good extra virgin olive oil over the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper. I use Meijer's organic EVOO as it's a pretty good quality for a good price, along with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. The salt and pepper should be to taste. You only need enough olive oil to make sure each tomato has a little oil to draw the heat while they're in the oven.


Place tomatoes in the oven. If you have two sheets, place them on separate racks. Allow to cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until tomatoes being to pop and look a bit wilted or wrinkled.




My Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
Place roasted tomatoes in the blender - if you have a large batch of tomatoes, you may have to process it in batches - along with juices that have collected on the sheet. Add a large handful of freshly torn basil - you can do this to taste, but we LOVE basil so I use a lot. Puree tomatoes and basil in the blender on the highest speed until sauce forms and there are no large chunks of tomatoes or basil left. If you need a little liquid to make the mixture move in the blender, you can add more EVOO, a little water or even some good white wine or stock.


Serve over freshly cooked pasta or allow to cool in the blender and store in the fridge for up to a week.


Enjoy!