Roasted Tomato Sauce

I’ve talked in the past about the bounty of the garden and making use of said bounty…!

That almost sounds…dirty! (an intended pun)

Well, suffice it to say there is a plethora of end-of-summer Solanum lycopersicum at the Connoisseur’s home and by-golly they need to be used up. I decided there was no time like the present for a little roasted tomato sauce. The recipe that follows has been tinkered with a bit over time and I am certain your buds of taste will appreciate the final result…

Roasted Tomato Sauce

· 1 whole garlic bulb
· 1 Tbsp olive oil
· 3 lbs tomatoes
· 1 lg white onion - sliced
· 1 Tbsp herbs de Provence
· 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
· 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
· 1 cup dry white wine
· ¼ tsp red pepper flakes - optional
· Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Trim top of garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, wrap in foil and place in oven. Cut the tomatoes in half – add to the roasting pan or cookie sheet cut side up along with the sliced onion. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs de Provence. Roast in oven for 45-55 minutes. Remove garlic and roasting pan from oven – transfer tomatoes and onion to a blender along with the roasted garlic, oregano and basil and blend to desired consistency. Add water if sauce is too thick. In a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the white wine and reduce by half. Transfer contents of the blender to the sauce pan and simmer for 20 minutes – salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: If you want to use the red pepper flakes, I recommend adding them along with a Tbsp of olive oil to the sauce pan just before the wine – simmer for a few seconds on their own to make them happy and then add the wine. Also, if the tomato skin bits are not your thing, simply add only the tomatoes to the blender, blend and then pour through your favorite strainer to remove. Add strained tomato sauce back to blender, add remaining ingredients and blend again.