Roasted Fresh Tomato Sauce

This Roasted Fresh Tomato Sauce is one of the best things you can make with an abundance of ripe summer tomatoes. With just a few minutes of prep and a long, slow roast in the oven, a big heap of fresh tomatoes transforms into a rich, deeply caramelized sauce with incredible tomato flavor. Toss it with pasta for a simple and memorable meal.

On a Personal Note —

My friend Sheryl has a signature dish that, whenever I go to her house for dinner, I secretly hope she’ll make for me. It’s her roasted tomato sauce, which she makes in a big cast iron skillet — the largest cast iron skillet I’ve ever seen.

One morning, as I stood in my kitchen staring at an enormous bowl of assorted fresh summer tomatoes, it occurred to me that I could make Sheryl’s sauce. I called her and she talked me through her process, summing it up as "You basically just roast the heck out of tomatoes." I immediately got to work.

That night, after a day of inhaling incredible aromas coming from the oven, Eddie and I sat down to a big bowl of spaghetti with roasted tomato sauce. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Eddie — or anyone, for that matter — rave about simple spaghetti with tomato sauce the way he did that night... except, of course, when we’ve had it at Sheryl’s.

So here it is — perhaps the simplest and most tomatoey tomato sauce in existence, and a must-make recipe for anyone who loves spaghetti with tomato sauce.

I hope you love it as much as we do,

Lisa

What Makes This Roasted Tomato Sauce Different?

Fresh tomato sauces are generally cooked just long enough for the tomatoes to break down and the sauce to thicken, preserving much of their bright, fresh tomato flavor. This sauce takes fresh tomatoes in a different direction.

The tomatoes roast for 3½ to 4 hours, until most of their liquid has evaporated and they become deeply concentrated and caramelized. You start with a roasting pan heaped with about 14 cups of cut-up fresh tomatoes and end up with 4–5 cups of intensely flavorful sauce.

That long roasting time creates a rich, sweet, deeply tomatoey flavor that's very different from a quickly cooked fresh tomato sauce. Because the sauce is so concentrated, a little goes a long way. Toss it with hot pasta and a splash of starchy pasta water to loosen the sauce and help it coat every strand.

And there's very little prep involved — no peeling or seeding the tomatoes. Just cut everything into chunks, put it in the roasting pan and let the oven do the work.

Ingredients

• Fresh tomatoes — You'll need about 14 cups of cut-up tomatoes. Any variety, shape or size will work, and a mixture is great. This is the perfect recipe for using an abundance of ripe summer tomatoes.
• Onions — I use yellow onions, but white or red onions will work too. They become wonderfully sweet and caramelized as they roast.
• Red bell pepper — I like adding one to the mix. I love that roasted pepper flavor.
• Garlic — I use 4 cloves, thickly sliced. The garlic mellows and sweetens as it roasts. Feel free to leave it out if you're not a garlic fan.
• Fresh basil — No need to chop it. Just add a big sprig, stem and all, and tuck it down among the tomatoes. If you have extra, sliver or chop it and use it as a topping for serving. Fresh basil is the best on spaghetti with tomato sauce.
• Olive oil — A generous amount helps everything roast and caramelize.
• Water — This may seem like an unusual addition, but it's important. The water allows the tomatoes to roast for several hours without burning before they've had time to soften, reduce and caramelize. Most of it will evaporate during the long roasting time.
• Salt — Start with just a little. Because the sauce reduces so much as it roasts, it's best to adjust the seasoning at the end.
• Parmesan or Pecorino Romano — For serving with pasta.

How to Make Roasted Fresh Tomato Sauce

1. Prep the vegetables: Cut the tomatoes, onions and bell pepper into chunks and thickly slice the garlic.
2. Fill the roasting pan: Add the tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, basil, olive oil, water and a few pinches of salt to a large roasting pan with plenty of surface area (I used my 16x19 All-Clad Roaster). Toss everything together.
3. Roast: Roast at 400ºF for 3½–4 hours, stirring about once an hour. At first there will be quite a bit of liquid in the pan. As the sauce cooks, the liquid will gradually evaporate and the tomatoes and onions will become increasingly concentrated, dark and caramelized. A little browning or charring around the edges is fine. If things are getting too dark before most of the liquid has evaporated, lower the oven temperature to 375ºF.
4. Finish the sauce: When the tomatoes are deeply caramelized and most of the liquid has cooked away, remove the pan from the oven. Leave the sauce chunky or purée it with an immersion blender for a smoother texture.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with pasta: Toss the sauce with your favorite pasta and thin it as needed with some of the hot pasta cooking water. Taste and season with additional salt if needed. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano.

Add basil — Just before serving, stir a good amount of fresh chopped basil into the sauce, then toss with pasta, plate and add more fresh basil as a topping.

More ways to use it — This rich, concentrated tomato sauce is perfect for my Healthy Eggplant Parmesan and my Chicken Parmesan, or any dish that calls for homemade tomato sauce.

Storing and Freezing

Roasted tomato sauce will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It also freezes beautifully. Let the sauce cool completely, transfer it to freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently on the stovetop, adding a little water if needed to loosen the sauce.

If you try this Roasted Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

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