As I was sitting in a restaurant yesterday, I overheard a waitress ask another customer, “How was your summer?”
He replied, “So far, so good.”
It made me smile. So far? Doesn’t he realize that schoolbuses loaded with backpack-clad children are rumbling down the street as he speaks?
The more I thought about it, though, the more I had to agree with his present-tense assessment of summer. Despite the fact that school has started, early September really is prime summertime here in the Northwest. The days are warm and hazy. We start thinking less about travel and more about home. Our gardens and produce markets are bursting with fruits and vegetables of every shape and size.
This tomato sauce recipe features fresh produce that can be pulled out of your garden or piled into your grocery cart right now: tomatoes, garlic, onions, and basil. The tomatoes can be those sweet little cherry tomatoes or the big ugly fellas (who still have great personalities). Or a combination of the two.
Throw in some olive oil and salt to round off the super simple ingredient list. Add a loaf of crusty bread and a fresh salad and dinner is served.
And the steps? They are so fast and easy. What? Are you rolling your eyes right now?
If making homemade tomato sauce calls to mind standing over a bubbling pot, stirring your afternoon away, think again. Other than piling all of the fresh ingredients into the pans, this recipe requires very little hands-on time. If you have a couple 9×13″ baking pans, a knife, and a blender or food processor you are good to go.
Up to your eyeballs in tomatoes right now? This is a great recipe to make in big batches and freeze for later use as pasta or pizza sauce. When my sisters and I can tomatoes next week, we will have pans of this marinara sauce rotating through the oven. We head home with tomatoes in jars and marinara sauce in containers.
Roasted Marinara Sauce
The amounts listed in this recipe are just a good place to start.
Adjust the ingredients to suit your tastes.
Yield: around 22 cups (5-6 quarts)
8 c. cherry tomatoes or 24 medium tomatoes
2 medium onions, quartered
8-10 garlic cloves, peeled
olive oil
salt
basil leaves
1-3 cans tomato paste, optional
- Wash and stem the cherry tomatoes or wash and core the whole tomatoes. Split them evenly, in a single layer, between 2 9×13″ baking dishes. The larger tomatoes can be left whole; they will break down during the roasting process. Toss the quartered onions and peeled garlic cloves evenly between the two pans. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt. Sprinkle the basil leaves over the top of the tomatoes.
- Roast at 425 for 30-40 minutes. The timing isn’t an exact science. The combination will smell incredibly fragrant, and the tomatoes and onions will look wrinkled, roasted, and slightly charred. Remove the pans from the oven and set on the counter to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Place a large collander inside a large bowl and dump the pans into the collander to strain out the juice. Set the juice aside.
- Puree the tomato mixture in a blender or food processor until it reaches the desired consistency. Dump the pureed tomato sauce into the reserved juice and stir until thoroughly combined. You could also add tomato paste if you desire a thicker sauce. Taste. Season with more salt, if needed.
- Serve immediately over cooked pasta or freeze in plastic containers or bags for later use.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
This is our second summer making this recipe and we often don’t add back in the drained liquid. It’s too runny for our taste if we add it all back in. AND it still tastes wonderful! Just a FYI.
My husband likes a thicker sauce, too, but I can’t bear to toss all that flavorful liquid. So I usually just cheat and add 3 cans of tomato paste.
I do not add back the juice since we like thicker sauces. However, I do freeze the juice separately and add it to vegetable beef soup. Yum.
I basically just made this same recipe, but used the crock pot. I think my taste buds almost revolted, there was so much flavor. How will I ever go back to store bought??
Melody, Can you share how you do it in the crockpot please? I would much rather do it in there then on the stove or oven.
Thanks.
I just followed this recipe: http://onceamonthmom.com/marinara-sauce-a-la-seaton/
Very similar flavors to Emily’s, but I was able to leave it in the crock pot while we were gone all day. I added several diced green peppers and used fresh tomatoes (blanched, peeled and seeded) instead of canned.
This sounds easier & quicker than the pot boiled method I use.
I also like to put eggplant and zucchini in my sauce-the zucchini because at this time there usually is lots of it and the eggplant really adds to the taste I think. Another added benefit-if it is puried all together my son will like it and then eats all these vegetables, he otherwise wouldn’t like! For myself-I like it chunky also. Sometimes I will also mix it 1/2 & 1/2 with canned sauce-I like the sausage type and then I have some meat too.
I’ve also added carrots and peppers before. This is currently the only way my children will eat vegetables…
It does make you feel good to know they are getting such a nice variety also!
By the way the pictures are beautiful-as I have all the ingredients in large quantities right now, think I will make some soon. This is very motivating (thanks-I can use that)!
Wow…this receipe sounds wonderful. I will have to try it sometime!
This is just what I need right now to use my veggies. Thanks so much!
Non-cook question:
Does coring mean taking out the seeds, or just the stem pat?
pat=part. Sorry-I’m trying to do this now, and I’ve got wet fingers.
just the stem
Thank you, Wynter!
My kitchen smells soooo good right now!
How long will this last in the freezer? Can you jar it as well? We just found a farmer locally who will sell us 60lbs of tomatoes for .60/lb and am so looking forward to making this recipe!
Mine never lasts long enough! I’d say easily 6-9 months. After that you might notice a decrease in quality.
Here is some good info on canning tomato sauce: http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/08/canning-101-why-you-cant-can-your-familys-tomato-sauce/
It comes down to safe acidity levels with tomatoes. It is definitely possible. You just want to find a recipe that adds in lemon juice or vinegar.
thanks, Em, I was wondering the same thing. I think I canned them last year, but only a couple quarts, so thankfully no one got sick. will definetely freeze this year!
Jodie~ where are you getting your tomatoes? I’m looking for a place…
This is the link where I found the tomatoes. Since we bought over 60lbs she gave us a deal.
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/grd/2584073853.html
Good luck!
what fabulous pics! The sauce and process looks sooo yummy!
I just did this with some tomatoes that have been sitting on my counter for a week and were starting to get too soft! It’s delicious…and even if it weren’t I’d want to do it because of how lovely it makes the house smell! Thanks for the recipe…I’ll have to make bunches more this weekend.
Do you puree the skins of the tomatoes or take them off after roasting?
Nope! No blanching or peeling required. I guess they add to the texture/flavor of the sauce, but you really do not notice the peels after pureeing the tomatoes in the blender/food processor.
I just made this from our first harvest of homegrown black krims, and OMG IT’S AMAZING! Thank you, thank you for posting this exactly when I happened to need it! It was so good, I licked the blender, hahaha.
I only added half of the liquid back in, and had quite a bit left over, so I froze it and hope to use it as a soup base this fall- anyone else done this? Any other ideas? It was just too tasty, I couldn’t part with it.
It would be great in soup-I was thinking the same thing. My Grandma and Mom are great soup makers-& they put all kinds of things in their soup. If you boil beets -that juice/water is great too-really from any vegetable-then you are keeping the vitamins.
I just made this today and it turned out really sweet. Does anyone have any ideas how to mellow out the sweet flavor??
Think it was the type of tomatoes you used-try using different types in different combinations. I also added zuccini and eggplant. Was really good!
Mine came out really acidic & from everything I’m reading online it sounds like the tomatoes are probably the culprit. I added in a bit of honey & some extra salt. It still is a bit acidic but I don’t want to mess with it too much. Maybe I’m just not used to home-made marina sauce! LOL
I made this tonight and OMG it’s yummy. I only made 1/2 a recipe to try it out and it turned out great. I used a combo of Roma’s and grape tomatoes. Before I mixed the liquid back in I strained out the seeds. Totally pinning this one.
I just made this sauce tonight, it is delicious. Like some said before, the sauce would have been to runny if I have added the juice. I am keeping it for a soup later on this week though, that precious juice is not going down the drain! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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