You need about 24-30 roma tomatoes, stems removed, cut in half, and seeds removed. Removing the seeds is the only time consuming part of this process, but it’s easily done with a kitchen knife. Here’s my three-step process: cutting board for cutting, pile of discards and mushy tomatoes in the sink, and a bowl for the seeds and all the juice that goes with them (you’ll want to save that).
Place the halved, seeded tomatoes in an ungreased 9 x 13 casserole pan.
Strain the seeds and their pulp/juice through a sieve, pushing with a spoon to extract as much juice as you can.
To the tomatoes, add: one onion quartered, 10 whole, peeled garlic cloves, and fresh basil. (More shown here, because I was making more than one batch.) The quantities aren’t exact. Use your best judgement. In the words of Thomas Edison, “There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!”
Sprinkle with a generous quantity of kosher salt.
Toss all with your hands.
Isn’t it beautiful? It’s all ready to go into an oven, preheated to 425 degrees, for 35-40 minutes.
When the timer goes off, this is what you have…beautifully carmelized veggies! AND you have a house that smells delicious! Let cool for 10 minutes.
You will now need 1 small can of tomato paste and balsamic vinegar.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer all your roasted vegetables and herbs to a food processor. You don’t want too much liquid, because it will result in a runny sauce. That was one of the many problems I encountered in my experiments last summer.
Puree for a good amount of time, until the texture looks about like this. You will never really get it smoother with a food processor. But you’re not finished yet.
Pour almost all of the textured sauce into another bowl…
To the smooth sauce, add back in the small amount of reserved, textured sauce to add just a bit of body. Stir to combine.
27 roma tomatoes
1 medium onion, quartered
10 garlic cloves, peeled
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked pepper
about 1/8 c. fresh basil leaves
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 t. to 1 T. balsamic vinegar
Wash and stem tomatoes. Cut them in half and remove seeds. Save seeds and strain the juice from the seeds.
Place the tomatoes in an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Add onions, garlic, and basil leaves to pan. Pour a good quantity of reserved tomato juice over vegatables. Sprinkle all with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with your hands to combine.
Roast at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove and cool for about 10 minutes.
Remove vegetables and herbs with a slotted spoon to a food processor. Whir to a fine texture. Add tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Whir to combine.
Transfer most of the sauce to a separate bowl and blend with an immersion blender to a smooth texture. Taste to test for the right texture. Add back in the reserved sauce, and stir to combine.
Serve immediately or freeze for later.
Yields about 4 cups of sauce.
