Roasted and Blended Tomato Sauce

The first year Matt and I grew a garden (back in 2009), I canned just about everything we were able to harvest, including my tomatoes. They were absolutely delicious, and I loved the way they looked lining my shelves, but these days you would be hard-pressed to convince me to do that again so long as I have the freezer space to avoid it.

Why? Because canning is a lot of fiddly work, and I prefer not to steam up my house if I don’t have to. Instead, what I’ve preferred doing over everything else for the past couple years is roasting my tomatoes on cookie sheets in a single layer until the skins have charred and browned, and then tossing it all - skins, seeds, juices, everything - in a blender to puree until it’s perfectly smooth and creamy.

It might seem weird to incorporate the skins and seeds, but with a good whiz in a high-powered blender, they seem to contribute to the creaminess and intensity of flavor for this application. Honestly, I have a hard time not eating this sauce up with a spoon straight from the blender, it’s that good.

Aside from the convenience and time saved from processing my tomatoes this way, there are other benefits as well. First, roasting helps to caramelize their sugars and elevates the flavor, making it more intense and less “raw.”

Second, it makes for a delicious tomato base that can be used for a variety of purposes. I can can add Italian seasonings, for example, and turn it into spaghetti, or I can throw in a whole different combination of spices to make a curry. I can even use it as a pizza sauce, or keep it simple and heat it up to make tomato soup to serve with grilled cheese.

Third, I can harvest a cookie sheet (or two) full of tomatoes every day during peak harvest season, and just process that much at a time daily until the season is done. This makes dealing with my tomatoes far less overwhelming in the long run, and gives me the chance to roast them right when they’re at their most fresh and flavorful.

Once I've pureed my sauce, my favorite way to store it in the freezer is with these BPA-free plastic storage containers. Generally speaking, I don't love using plastic, but I can reuse these over and over again, and they really do a good job of storing and sealing my garden goods so I can use it all year round.

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Roasted Tomato Sauce

Yield: Varies

Author: A Wooden Nest

Roast and process a sheet or two of fresh garden tomatoes daily throughout the peak harvest season to keep from getting too overwhelmed by your tomato harvest.

Ingredients

• A rimmed cookie sheet that fits in your oven
• Tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Rinse your tomatoes thoroughly. Pat to dry.
3. Halve or quarter your tomatoes and place them on a rimmed cookie sheet in a single layer. You want all the pieces to be relatively the same size. Cherry tomatoes can be left whole.
4. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. Place in a preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, or until the skins have caramelized and browned.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.
7. Place tomatoes (skins and all) and any leftover juices in a blender. Puree until smooth.
8. Store in airtight freezer containers and use within a year.

Notes

You don't want to stack your tomatoes too high on your cookie sheet or they will produce too much liquid and/or steam up your oven. 

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