Roasted Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons dried herbs, such as oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, or a good Italian herb blend
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds tomatoes, cored and halved pole to pole (I used good heirloom tomatoes from the market, red and yellow)
6 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1 small onion, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch rounds
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1⁄2 cup red wine
Fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475*F. Combine tomato paste, 1 tablespoon oil, thyme, pepper flakes, 3⁄4 teaspoons salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Toss tomatoes, garlic, and onion with tomato paste mixture until evenly coated. Place 4-inch square of foil in center of wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and arrange tomatoes, cut side down, around garlic and onion. (I used my roasting pan with V-rack for this because I don’t have a wire rack suitable for oven use. It worked fantastically.)
2. Roast until vegetables are soft and tomato skins are well charred, 45-55 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Transfer garlic and onion to food processor; pulse until finely chopped, about five 1-second pulses. Add tomatoes, vinegar, and remaining tablespoon oil to food processor. Pulse until broken down but still chunky, about five 1-second pulses. Using rubber spatula, scrap down bowl; season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to process sauce until slightly chunky, about five 1-second pulses.
3. Pour sauce into a saucepan, add wine, and simmer until desire thickness is reached. Stir in basil prior to serving.
Note: If not using immediately, freeze before step 3.
Comments
This is from the March & April 2007 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. The recipe was designed to make grocery store winter tomatoes into a delicious sauce and I figured that it would make delicious summertime tomatoes even more delicious.
I’ve wanted to make fresh tomato sauce for a while and this recipe appealed to me. Since I’m after a sauce that freezes well, I made this on Sunday and put it in the freezer until dinner on Thursday. I thawed it for about 6 minutes in the microwave and then transferred it to a large pot to thaw it the rest of the way. I proceeded with step 3 at that point and added the wine, tasted it for seasoning, and then added the basil just prior to serving.
This is a fantastic sauce. The roasted tomatoes are just amazingly flavorful. It is also a fairly basic sauce that would make a great base for other additions such as meats or other vegetables. I will definitely be making a big vat of this in the near future for freezing. This sauce tasted fresher than any other pasta sauce I’ve tried.
Shown here with Maroni’s Meatballs.
Cook’s Illustrated 2007