One of my ever first jobs was working in a kitchen as a sandwich prep for an Italian man. He would go the market bright and early every morning to gather the bounty for the day and then come into work and talk about what he got with so much passion”Bella look at this parsley, it is sooo fresh. Smell ittt!! How good does that smell Bella?” Italians know good food and they love to share it.
Whilst working there I learnt to appreciate simple fresh ingredients and how to make them shine on their own. He had me collect all the tomato scraps and put them in a container so that at the end of the day he could make a big batch of fresh tomato sauce for the next day’s pasta.
While I was wondering around my local farmers market, sniffing the oranges and gazing at the size of some of the zucchinis I stumbled upon a box of fresh succulent tomatoes and I knew exactly what I was going to make when I got home. Hint: it’s tomato sauce.
Making your own tomato sauce means you know exactly what ingredients are in it, so you can customize it to fit your dietary/health needs and omg have any of you ever tasted freshly made tomato sauce!? Perfecto -my lame attempt at being Italian. It’s no wonder Noonas get such high praise.
Roasting the tomatoes and garlic bulbs bring out these caramelised and sweet tones, adding a layer of depth and flavour to your sauce. I highly recommend doing this for not only this sauce but any time you want to use tomato and garlic.
You can store this in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze in portions for up to 6 months
There is always leftover sauce if you don’t have enough to freeze or just don’t wanna, try out my recipe for Healthy Homemade Baked Beans.
- 1 kg fresh tomatoes
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chilli flakes *
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp marjoram
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
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Remove the stems of the tomatoes and dice into quarters. Place onto a baking tray with unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the herbs, chilli flakes and sugar. Place into the oven to roast for 40 minutes or until tender.
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Remove from the oven and slip the garlic cloves out of their skin. Add to a blender and blitz until your desired consistency.
* add more or less chilli flakes, depending on how hot you like it.
Watch the video for Homemade Tomato Sauce here
Natalie
Whenever I have a large amount of fresh tomatoes I make tomato sauce and freeze it. It’s definitely one of the most-used ingredients in my kitchen! You sauce looks delicious!
Meeta
Having a good tomato sauce to go to is worth gold. I love roasting my tomatoes for the sauce too. Our tomato plants are yielding quite a crop this season!
Brian Jones
Superb, it is almost the same as the way I make a roasted tomato passata, although I pass my tomatoes through a vegetable mill and then ‘can’ in jars… It lasts for a year 😀
Juli
I love the idea of roasting the tomatoes first, caramelized vegetables are always a hit.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
Definitely going to have to give this a try – can’t beat homemade sauce!