When life gives you two enormous trays of tomatoes that are a little bit hard shouldered, the best thing to do is make a lovely Easy Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce. It’s super easy to make and creates a scrummy sauce that you can keep frozen in portions for later.
I love a good tomato sauce. Usually at this time of year I like to almost squeeze fresh tomatoes out of their skins,with the scantest hint of garlic, mash them up & call it sauce. Super fresh. Super easy & barely even cooking.
However, because of a small thing called my wedding, we ended up with two HUGE trays of tomatoes left over from the catering for it. They were perfect for slicing into burgers or adding colour to salad, but to be honest, were a little tasteless and in need of some proper heat to bring out their sweetness.
The reason I ended up roasting them, despite the summery weather was that I really didn’t want to be standing around a vat of sauce, simmering it down to the required flavour. I had family staying & friends constantly in & out of the kitchen, so roasting the tomatoes with herbs & garlic made sense.
The key is to roast the tomatoes on a moderately low heat with lots of garlic & herbs and a big old glug of olive oil. Roast until sweet & slightly caramelised, cool then blend.
This lush Roasted Tomato sauce is great served swirled into pasta, or you could use it on pizza, as part of a lasagne or even spread on toast. Feel free to change the herbs or add some chilli too.
The quantities I give here are approximate, add more herbs or garlic as you see fit!
A yummy tomato pasta sauce that's the perfect way to create a delicious flavour with tomatoes that might not be as juicy as you might like!
- 6 large tomatoes or a few more if they aren't so large! Enough to fill 2 large roasting/baking tins
- 2 whole heads garlic
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 2-3 tsp mild chilli powder or one with more heat if you like! Or leave it out if you are not a fan!
- 3-4 sprigs fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons of dried
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- big pinch salt
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Heat your oven to 180c/ Gas Mark 4
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Halve the tomatoes & remove their hard cores
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Halve the whole heads of garlic
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In two large trays, arrange all the tomatoes, cut side up. Divide the garlic & herbs between them & sprinkle generously with olive oil.
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Roast in the oven for around 2 hours- maybe up to 3. This will depend on how ripe or large the tomatoes are. You want them to be a little charred and very soft. The garlic should be soft & caramelised.
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Once the tomatoes are cooled, put them in the blender or food processor. Squeeze out the garlic cloves and add them.
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Blitz until pretty smooth.
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Serve stirred through some hot pasta, with maybe a little extra olive oil & some fresh herbs to finish
This sauce is great used as a tomato base for pizza, to simmer vegan 'meat' balls in or smooshed into a sandwich with some roasted veggies.
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