The problem is they ripen faster than I can use them and I had a bunch that were bordering on overripe and having to be thrown to the deer! I simply couldn't let that happen. So I decided to make fire roasted tomato sauce.
It's a very simple, basic recipe.
Preheat oven to 400F. Pick some fresh basil and thyme from your garden. Or you can use dried herbs if that's what you have. It'll work just fine.
Core and seed the large tomatoes. Then set them in a large colander in the sink for about 30 minutes or so to drain the excess water.
Toss tomatoes in a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil.
Place tomatoes, skin side down, on a foil lined baking sheet that's been coated with extra virgin olive oil, Using foil lined pans makes clean up so much easier! I sometimes throw in a few cloves of garlic that have been tossed with olive oil to roast along side the tomatoes.
Roast in hot oven for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours, until tomatoes are cooked and the skins are nicely charred.
Remove from oven and let cool. Remove the skins...they really should slip right off.
Working in batches if necessary, place roasted tomatoes (and any juice left on the baking sheet) in food processor (or blender) with the pulp from the roasted garlic cloves and some fresh herbs. Puree until mixture is your desired consistency. I don't like my sauce too chunky, so I puree it very well.
Pour into freezer bags in 2 cup increments and freeze till needed.
I'll use this as a base for any type of tomato sauce, meat sauce, in soups, etc. I don't season it until I'm ready to use the puree in something I'm cooking.
This is a great way to use very ripe summer tomatoes and I'm sure (absolutely sure!) I'll be making many more batches of this sauce this summer.
This looks sooo good. I can just imagine the smell of the roasting tomatoes and garlic - yum!! Don't know though that many tomatoes would have escaped past the tomatoes tossed with olive oil stage! They look amazing.
ReplyDeleteI hope my harvest is as goodas yours! At present I am only harvesting the cherry types, and the others will mostly be a few weeks yet. We generally make our tomato sauce very plain, without herbs or garlic, just some onions, so that it can be used more flexibly. That way you can add the herbs into the dish you are making up in accordance with your needs at the time.
ReplyDeleteGood tip about the foil covering for the trays, BTW.
Yes Cat, my kitchen smelled pretty good that morning! And I have to admit, I did eat a few of the tomatoes as I was making this dish. Too good to resist!
ReplyDeleteHi Mark, I agree. I didn't season this sauce really at all. Just the basil, thyme and a couple of roasted garlic cloves, which tend to be more mild than raw garlic. Like you, I'll season the sauce when I use it in a particular dish. And the foil works like a charm in clean up!
Oh, yea for you to have so many tomatoes. I planted some fall tomatoes before we went on vacation but they all fried by the time we got back. And you're hotter and drier than we are in DFW, so hats off to you on your veggie gardening skills! Oh, well. Next year for me. This recipe sounds so good. Will have to try it -- maybe will go to a farmers market to get a load of tomatoes. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteYum, you make everything look so easy, Diane. I'll bet that sauce is yummy. I might try it. I don't have many tomatoes in my garden, but I'll probably get some from my CSA next week. I can't wait. The first thing I'll fix, though is BLTs! Love them with fresh tomatoes and fresh lettuce!
ReplyDeleteHi Toni...yes, I am blessed with tomatoes! Luckily all my garden beds have their own soaker hose set to a timer so they do get water every day. If not for that, my entire garden would have fried by now in this awful heat! You guys are baking too in DFW. Let's all pray for rain!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth. But this one is really easy :) I agree with you about BLTs! We've had our share this summer and as a matter of fact, that's what's on the dinner menu tonight...along with chunky red dal soup!
Can't wait to try this! Thanks for the new recipe! My dinner turned out great and my good friend was going to follow your recipe for cooking for her inlaws the next week! Thanks so much! I will try the ice cream when I get a ice cream maker! Soon hopefully!
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