Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

My favourite way to preserve the freshness of summer. This is a great sauce to pull out of the freezer in the middle of winter. Super quick and easy, and very satisfying. Toss this sauce with your favourite pasta for a quick weekday meal. Make some to enjoy now and some for the freezer. My guys love this.

Quarter 8 cups of fresh, in season tomatoes. Chop 1 cup onions.

In a large glass baking pan (10x15 inch)toss all the ingredients(except the parsley) together. No kidding, that's all you do.

Tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, sugar, oil and wine all go into the pan. Save the parsley for the end. 

And in one hour you have a beautifully roasted sauce. If your sauce does not have nice browned bits like this then just leave it in the oven for another half hour.

Mash with a potato masher to break up the tomatoes and garlic. If you prefer a chunky sauce, mash less. If your family prefers a smoother sauce, mash more. It's up to you.

Use a fork to scrape the very delicious browned bits off of the side of the pan. If your family is bothered by the tomato skins you can pick them out after the sauce has cooled a bit. My family doesn't mind the skin, so I just leave them in. After the sauce has cooled you can freeze it  in 2-3 cup containers. It will keep for 6 months in your freezer.

While the sauce is cooling, cook the pasta. Reserve a cup of the pasta water for the sauce.

OK. This is the secret that Italians have for making their pasta taste awesome. 

Add the pasta to the sauce in a pan and cook on high heat for a few minutes. 

 Cooking the pasta with the sauce makes the pasta absorb the sauce. This technique will make your pasta very flavourful. This is how Italians do it, that's the secret. If you feel like there is not enough sauce, add the reserved pasta water to the pot. 

I like to serve this pasta with freshly grated parmesan, Romano or granna padano cheeses, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. YUM!

Watch me make it on You Tube

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

8 cups quartered tomatoes
1 cup onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, whole
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a 10x15 inch glass pan combine everything except the parsley.
3. Toss to coat the tomatoes in the oil.
4. Roast for one to one and one half hours until the edges of the tomatoes have blackened a bit.
5. Stir occasionally.
6. Remove pan from oven. Mash the tomatoes and garlic with a potato masher until everything have combined. Is you prefer a chunkier sauce, mash less. If you prefer a smoother sauce, mash more.
7. Add parsley at the very end.
8. Sauce may be frozen at this point in 2-3 cup containers. Keeps for six months in the freezer
9. Or, Toss cooked pasta with the sauce.
10.