Roasted Garden Tomato Sauce

🍅 Roasted Garden Tomato Sauce — From the Garden to the Freezer 🌿

One of my favorite things to make with an abundance of garden tomatoes is homemade roasted tomato sauce.

And I don’t think of tomato sauce as something that’s only for pasta! I freeze mine in portions and use it all winter long in everything from chili and soups to stews, casseroles, pizza and so many of our everyday meals.

Roasting the tomatoes first concentrates their flavor and gives the sauce a wonderful richness. I add olive oil and plenty of Italian herbs—and whether my tomatoes are particularly acidic or not, I almost always add a little honey. 🍯😀 I love the subtle balance it gives the tomatoes.

You can blend this sauce until it’s beautifully smooth or leave it a little chunky and rustic. And there’s no peeling or seeding tomatoes around here! 😂

🍅 Roasted Garden Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
 • 5 lbs ripe garden tomatoes
 • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
 • 1 tsp dried basil
 • 1 tsp dried oregano
 • ½ tsp dried thyme
 • ½ tsp dried rosemary, crushed
 • ½ tsp dried parsley
 • ¼ tsp black pepper
 • ½ tsp kosher salt, optional
 • 1 tsp honey 🍯
 • Fresh basil or parsley, optional
 • ½ onion and 3–4 garlic cloves, optional

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Wash and core the tomatoes. Quarter large tomatoes and halve smaller ones.
2. Arrange on rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the Italian herbs and black pepper. Add onion and garlic if desired.
3. Roast for 40–55 minutes, or until the tomatoes are very soft, lightly caramelized and some of their liquid has cooked away.
4. Transfer the tomatoes and all those wonderful roasting juices to a Dutch oven or large saucepan.
5. For a chunky sauce, mash or briefly blend with an immersion blender. For a smooth sauce, blend thoroughly.
6. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 15–30 minutes, until the sauce reaches the thickness you like.
7. Stir in the honey, taste and adjust the seasonings. Finish with fresh basil or parsley if you’d like.
8. Cool and freeze in meal-size portions. I like 2-cup portions because they’re so easy to grab whenever a recipe needs tomato sauce.

There is something awfully satisfying about reaching into the freezer in the middle of winter and pulling out a little taste of last summer’s garden. 🍅🌿❄️

Helene
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