A couple of weeks ago, a friend assumed that I am without experience with wholesome, healthy food.  Sure, I love to eat potatoes and gravy, but “good for you food” can be really tasty.  In fact, most of the meals I prepare on a day-to-day basis for my wife and I are made with an eye toward  health.

So, you know I had to show my stuff with some vegetarian fare, and not just meatless, but Vegan (no animal products or by-products of any kind).  I decided to make herbed rice stuffed zucchini, however, during the planning I decided it would need a sauce to be a memorable entree.  Being pushed for time with all of the other dishes on the menu, a roasted tomato sauce fit perfectly, I thought.

Making this sauce is super easy and versatile.  For the zucchini, I slanted it toward Mediterranean flavors.  However, last night I made it as a pizza sauce!  I’ll provide these variations later, but let’s start with a simple sauce that you can use as a base for anything that calls for tomato sauce.  And, for the record, you won’t find a better method and outcome than these roasted tomatoes!

Roasted Tomato Sauce

 

Author: Dennis Killebrew

Cuisine: American

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  1 hour

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Ingredients

• 1½ Pounds Fresh Ripe Red Tomatoes (I used Roma), Sliced in Half and Seeded
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
• 1 Dash Seasoning Salt
• ⅛ Teaspoon Salt
• 4 Twists of the Black Pepper Grinder
• 2 Cloves of Garlic

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash the tomatoes. Cut out the top stem area and slice in half horizontally over a large strainer placed in a small baking pan. See the following picture. Remove the seeds over the strainer by poking a finger into their cavities. Place processed tomatoes into pan with the juice that has dripped through the strainer. Discard seeds and any pulp.
3. Add the next 6 ingredients to a small bowl and stir well with a spoon to combine. Add the contents of this bowl to the tomatoes in the pan and toss everything together with your hands until the tomatoes are evenly coated. Spread out the tomatoes in a single layer in the pan
4. Leave the garlic in their skin and cut off the stem ends. Rub them with a little olive oil and arrange together in the middle of the tomatoes. They will roast and we will squeeze them into the sauce later.
5. Bake the tomato mixture in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Squeeze the garlic into the pan and discard the skins.
6. Pour/scrape the cooked tomatoes into the container of your blender. and pulse 2 or 3 short bursts to just puree the sauce.
7. This makes 1 cup. Should you wish to make more, just multiply all ingredients by the amount desired. For example to make 3 cups of sauce, multiply by 3.

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Use a strainer to catch the juice

Variations:

Mediterranean Roasted Tomato Sauce.  Use a total of 5 Cloves of garlic.  In addition to the other ingredients given above, add 1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary Leaves and 1/4 teaspoon dried whole oregano to the small bowl.  Proceed as directed.

Italian Roasted Tomato Sauce.  To the small bowl of the basic ingredients, add 1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried whole basil and 1/2 of a small bay leaf.  Proceed as directed.

Mexican Roasted Tomato Sauce.   To the small bowl of the basic ingredients, add 1/8 teaspoon dried whole oregano, 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin and 1 teaspoon ground chili powder.  To add a little zip, add 1/2 jalapeno seeded and deveined, chopped and placed in the little bowl (optional).  Proceed as directed.

Cooling after roasting