Description
This easy roasted tomato sauce recipe makes a big batch of delicious and versatile sauce that you can freeze for later, with no canning required.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 12 pounds of tomatoes (use mostly Roma or other paste tomatoes, a few slicer tomatoes are fine)
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 heads of garlic, no need to peel
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 4 teaspoons salt (adjust to your preference)
- 4 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste
- 1–2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Prep your tomatoes. I like to cut the smaller tomatoes in half and cut the larger tomatoes into quarters. *See notes below.
- In a large roasting pan, toss the prepped tomatoes with the onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and herbs.
- Cover the pan with the lid and roast in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
- After an hour, remove the pan and use tongs or a wooden spoon to stir the tomato mixture. Turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Leave off the lid, then return the pan to the oven. Roast uncovered at 400 degrees for another 30 minutes. The liquid from the tomatoes will reduce and thicken, and the vegetables will become caramelized. It’s perfectly OK to have a few charred bits.
- Remove from the oven. Stir in tomato paste and sugar, if using. I like to give it a taste at this time and decide if I want to add the sugar.
- Allow the tomato mixture to cool for at least 20 minutes, or until it’s cool enough to handle. Use your fingers, a fork, or tongs to remove the majority of the tomato skins (they should slip right off). It’s ok to leave some of the skins on. Also, remove the bay leaves.
- When the garlic head is cool enough, squeeze out the roasted garlic into the sauce mixture.
- Use a countertop blender to puree the sauce in batches (or you can use an immersion blender in the pan). Be sure the sauce is sufficiently cooled when you do this because it is dangerous to blend hot liquids. Add the pureed batches to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Now you can use the sauce immediately in a recipe. If you’re not using the sauce right away, pack the sauce into containers and store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Store sauce in the fridge for 3-4 days. For longer storage, freeze for up to 6 months.
Notes
*To prep the tomatoes, I cut the Roma tomatoes in half and use a paring knife to remove the stem area and any hard parts of the core. For slicing tomatoes, I cut them in quarters, and remove the stem area and the hard parts of the core.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes