Roasting tomatoes before turning them into a sauce yields 100% more flavorful results. And it doesn't even require more time or effort to make a roasted tomato sauce instead of a plain one!
And that's because you needn't blanch and skin the tomatoes. You don't even need to dice them! This roasted tomato sauce is so simple and easy to make, that will have you wondering why haven't you cooked a tomato sauce this way before.
How Do You Make A Roasted Tomato Sauce?
First things first, you will need an immersion blender for this sauce. Unless you want a really chunky sauce and instead of an immersion blender, you use a potato masher to turn the tomatoes into a sauce. My preferred way to go is to use the immersion blender as it thickens the sauce nicely and all of the skins get blended into the sauce.
But let me tell you, step by step how to make a roasted tomato sauce...
- Prepare the tomatoes by removing stems and bottoms.
- Cut them in half and lay them on a parchment paper-covered sheet pan.
- Drizzle them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast them until they get darkened here and there and their skins start to come off.
- Saute onions in a cooking pot along with extra virgin olive oil.
- Then add the tomatoes to the pot along with a small amount of tomato paste (which will give some extra color to the sauce). As well as a little bit of sugar (for extra sweetness).
- Then add some water along with the herbs (basil, thyme) and the garlic cloves.
- Simmer until most of the water has reduced down to a quantity that's just enough to cover the bottom of the pot.
- Remove the pot from the heat and use the immersion blender and blend the sauce. Or use a potato masher to create a chunky sauce if you prefer.
Why This Roasted Tomato Sauce Is So Flavorful
Apart from the fact that the tomatoes are well... roasted, what makes this sauce soo delicious is the amount of garlic it contains. The garlic isn't roasted nor sauteed. It gets added to the sauce along with the herbs. This way, it gives out all of its sweetness without making the sauce taste too heavy and strong.
Also, using the immersion blender helps to blend all of the flavors so nicely together. Which really adds to the flavor of this sauce.
Servings And Storing
This recipe yields about one 500 ml jar. You can multiply the recipe according to how many jars you want to make. You can store this sauce either in the fridge for up to 6-7 days. Or in the freezer for up to 6 months. You can store it for even longer without the sauce going bad. But to get the most out of its flavor it is better to consume it within 6 months.
USE IT TO MAKE 🠯
You can use this sauce to make pizza, lasagna, calzone, cook meat dishes, or even serve as a tomato sauce (yeap you can) by dissolving it with some water in a saucepan or vegetable stock.
Recipe
Roasted Tomato Sauce With Garlic
Ingredients
- 1.200 grams (about 6-7 large) tomatoes red and ripe
- extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- 140 grams ( 1 medium-sized) red onion finely diced
- ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- â…” teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 + ½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 8 large cloves of garlic cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 392°F.
- Remove the stems and bottoms of the tomatoes and cut them in half.
- Cover a sheet pan or your oven's baking tray with parchment paper.
- Lay the tomatoes so their skin is facing upwards.
- Drizzle with a good splash of extra virgin olive oil on top. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
- Bake the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes until they get a nice roasted color and their skins start to come off.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside.
- In a medium-sized cooking pot heat a generous splash of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until completely soft and golden in color.
- Then add the tomatoes to the pot along with their juices from within the pan.
- Drop the heat to medium. Add the tomato paste and sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon and mushing the tomatoes as you stir.
- Then add 2 cups of water the thyme, basil, and garlic. Wait until it starts to boil and then drop the temperature to low. Partly cover with the pot's lid and simmer for about 40-45 minutes. At this point, most of the water should have evaporated from the pot. If not remove the lid and raise the temperature to medium and cook for a few minutes more. Until there is only a small amount of water left in the pot just enough to cover the bottom by ½ inch (1 cm) in height.
- Take the pot off the heat and using an immersion blender blend the sauce until it looks very smooth.
- Taste the sauce to check if it needs any additional seasoning. If the sauce is too runny because there was too much water left, you can cook it again uncovered over low heat until it reaches the consistency of your liking.
- Let the sauce cool and transfer to a canning jar and store in the fridge for up to 6-7days.
- You may also freeze the sauce in the canning jar just make sure to leave some space at the top about 1 inch (2-3 cm). You can keep the sauce in the freezer for up to 6 months. To unfreeze place the jar in the fridge overnight. And reheat the sauce the next day.
Perfect recipe and it's so good!!!
Thank you for this recipe. I am eager to give it a try with my tomato harvest. Quick question, do you remove the skins before adding the tomatoes to the pot?
You're welcome Kristina. I don't remove the skins as they get blended later on with the immersion blender. But if you want to remove them you can easily do so as they start to to come off after roasting.
Simple and so good.