The ONLY Tomato Sauce Recipe

…you’ll ever need!

This is a post that I shared last harvest season and since it is totally perfect and one of my most requested and popular harvest recipes here it is for this year's harvest season..."The Only Tomato Sauce Recipe You'll Ever Need!" (Requires no tomato boiling, no peeling skins, no de-seeding, just fresh garden goodness and a hot hot oven)...enjoy! 

First, I'll start this post by saying, "you're welcome!"  This recipe is one of my most useful in my giant recipe library.  When the summer tomato harvest hits, the whole garden is in full product mode, and this year - with the tomato harvest being a few weeks late (due to a rainy June) and coinciding with the first week of school - this recipe is the time saver you need to take full advantage of your garden harvest, and get the kids to school on time!  I promise you'll LOVE IT and you can cram as many fresh veggies and herbs into it as you can fit into your roasting pan!

The best thing about this Tomato Harvest Sauce is that you take your tomatoes, onions, herbs and garlic and toss it all in one happy roasting pan on hight heat for a couple of hours and it all caramelizes into a rich, super hearty tomato sauce!  Yeah, that means NO PEELING tomatoes! 

Like I said, "you're welcome!"

Without further ado...

Tomato Harvest Sauce Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the Stonewall Kitchen "Harvest" cookbook; "Roasted Tomato Sauce" 

Makes about 10 cups

preheat oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients

  • 2 heads garlic (cloves peeled)

  • 8 lbs tomatoes (cored/quartered)

  • 10 medium onions (quarters)

  • 1 cup chopped fresh herbs (basil and parsley are my favs)

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

  • (3-4 tablespoons sugar optional)

Method

In a large roasting pan, drizzle a splash of olive oil on the bottom and add all your tomatoes, garlic, onions, herbs, oil, salt and pepper.  Add remaining olive oil on top and gently toss all ingredients.  

Roast for 25 minutes. Gently stir the vegetables and roast another 25 minutes. Roast another 45 minutes or until tomatoes are tender and golden.  There will be a beautiful golden caramelized layer over the vegetables.   

Once the vegetables are caramelized, take your immersion blender (or blender) and puree the sauce to your desired consistency.  I love keeping this sauce on the hearty side - it's never a thin, smooth sauce.  The end result is a gorgeous burnt orange color with brilliant flecks of green from your fresh herbs.  Season the sauce to your taste.  You can add sugar if your sauce tastes bitter, but some salt and pepper are usually all I need.

I've used this sauce as a pasta sauce, and as a dip!  I made a giant batch last night with 50lbs of my garden fresh red, orange and yellow tomatoes - and I was considering just eating it as a soup!  

I hope you enjoy it! 

You can store in mason jars or freezer bags. If canning the sauce, follow the golden rules of canning and put the sauce in sterile mason jars.  Process 25 minutes in a water bath and store up to 10 months.

HAVE FUN & HAPPY HARVEST! 

RecipesStephanie McDonoughcanning, tomatoes