If you grew too many tomatoes this year (you did) and you're staring at your counter as the tomatoes multiply with the fruit flies, I have your solution: make roasted tomato pasta sauce.
Slow roasting turns tomatoes into something so good you'll forget you ever meant to make ketchup. And unlike canning, you don't need 37 Mason jars, a giant pot of boiling water, or the upper body strength of a lumberjack to heave it onto the stove.
I'm a profound overeater at dinner. More than once the neighbours have found me rolling around on the front lawn with a fork in one hand and a bottle of Gaviscon in the other crying incoherently about a tumour in my stomach which is really 17 meatballs.
Did someone say meatballs? I have a great sauce for that. This recipe was born from a countertop buried in end-of-summer tomatoes. It's easy and uncomplicated. The way tomato sauce should be.
Table of Contents
Quick Summary
- Halve or quarter fresh tomatoes, toss with garlic, onion, herbs, and olive oil.
- Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan.
- Roast at 275-300°F (150°C) for a few hours.
- Add a bit of water and blend for a smooth sauce or leave chunky for rustic.
- Cool and freeze in whatever serving size you'd like.
Why Roast Tomatoes for Pasta Sauce
- Flavour upgrade. Roasting caramelizes tomatoes, concentrating sweetness and adding depth you don't get from raw or stovetop-only sauce. That's why people like my "Gramma's Spaghetti & Meatballs recipe" so much - it's roasted.
- Glut control. Perfect for when your 15 plants ripen all at once or a frost is coming and you need to pick and use them NOW.
- Less waste. Overripe? A little bruised? Roast them anyway. They'll be delicious.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Fresh tomatoes (any of them - Roma, cherry, heirloom ...)
- Garlic cloves
- Onions
- Bay leaf
- Hot peppers or hot pepper flakes (optional)
- Olive oil, salt, herbs
Pro Tip: Don't just drizzle the tomatoes-drizzle the pan, too. That way the bottoms caramelize instead of welding themselves onto the baking sheet which you will then want to throw out rather than scrub.
How to Make Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce (Step-by-Step)
Prep the pan. Drizzle a sheet pan with olive oil. Halve or quarter your tomatoes, scatter whole, unpeeled garlic, onion, and herbs, toss in olive oil then spread in a single layer with space between. Crowding = steaming, not roasting.
Roast low and slow. 300°F for 2-3 hours, stirring a couple of times. Your kitchen will smell like you accidentally became a professional chef.
TIP - Keeping the skin on the onions & garlic protects them from drying out while cooking for so many hours.
Squeeze it out. Once cooled enough to handle, squeeze out the garlic and onions. They'll be soft, gooey and not dried out.
Deglaze the pan by putting it on the stove and adding plain water to the heated pan, stirring to coax the caramelized bits off.
NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE
- You can use the roasted tomatoes as is, on pasta just by mashing it a bit with a potato masher.
- You can add a bit more water to blend them into a smooth sauce.
Would you like to save this stuff?
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Blend the contents of the pan including tomatoes and water. If you need to add more water to get it to the right consistency, you can do that.
Blend as much as you'd like. A little or a lot. Adjust to taste adding salt and pepper flakes if needed.
Roasted Tomato Sauce.
A delicious way to use up the glut of garden tomatoes.
This isn't a recipe that requires strict measurements. As long as you follow the technique you'll end up with delicious sauce.
Ingredients
- 10 or so tomatoes (quartered or halved)*
- 5 very small or 1 large onion
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cloves whole garlic (do not peel)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 hot pepper halved, or ½ teaspoon dried pepper flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F. Oil sheet pan.
- Do not peel onions! If using small onions, cut a bit off of the top. If using 1 large onion, cut in quarters.
- Add everything to a sheet pan and douse with some olive oil. Mix everything up so it's all coated nicely and put the pan in the oven.
- Roast for 3 hours (checking on them and stirring every hour or so).
- When the ingredients look roasted and dark and caramelized in some spots you can take the mixture out of the oven.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Squeeze out the garlic and onions into the tomatoes on the pan once they're cool enough to handle.
- Deglaze the pan with water scraping up browned bits.
- Serve as is, over pasta or blend to a smoother consistency..
Notes
- Adding cherry tomatoes if you have access to them will sweeten your sauce beautifully.
- Your roasting temperature might be different. Some ovens run hotter or cooler than others. Check your tomatoes and if after 1.5 hours they aren't showing any signs of roasting at all you can turn your oven up (or down if needed) in 25 degree increments.
- Leaving the peel on the garlic and onions while roasting, helps stop them from drying out. Don't forget to squeeze them out before blending!
Storage & Freezer Tips
Ice Cube Trays create perfect serving sizes. 2 cubes = 2 ounces of sauce (an individual serving) Once frozen store them in a glass container or plastic freezer bag in the freezer.
Freezer bags can be flat packed to save space. To use, thaw a few minutes, bend to break the sauce, dump it out, and wash the bag for reuse.
I throw a couple of cubes into a bowl and let it start to defrost on the counter when I start making dinner. You can add some hot pasta water to the sauce if you need to "loosen" it.
Serving Ideas
How you'll be able to grab some cubes and go.
- Tossed with pasta (any shape, but penne is my favourite for this)
- Chicken Parmesan
- Pizza sauce
- Soup addition
- Slathered on a toasted baguette with some parmesan
Troubleshooting & Variations
- Watery? Roast longer or simmer down.
- Too bland? Add more garlic or hot peppers next time. After cooking you can add hot pepper flakes and salt to taste as well.
- Want flair? Anchovies, smoked paprika, or your favourite Italian herb mix.
- Garden Sauce Turn this into a garden sauce by adding whatever vegetables you have to the pan. Zucchini, carrots and sweet peppers all work great in this.
FAQ
Can I use bruised or over-ripe tomatoes?
Yes. Trim the bad bits and roast away. Don't use disgusting, diseased or tomatoes that smell bad. Roasting forgives most, but not everything.
Do I need to peel or seed them first?
Nope. Skins and seeds blend in fine-or leave them in for rustic texture.
Can I can this sauce instead of freezing?
Not safely. This recipe is designed for freezing. If you want shelf-stable, use a tested canning recipe.
I've discovered many things about myself over the years. For instance, I will always take seconds. It doesn't matter how side splittingly full I am after the first plate, I want more. My stomach could be so stretched out from food that I'm screaming in pain and I would still fart my way over to the casserole and take another helping.
I'm fun like that.
Roast, blend, freeze, repeat - that's the whole trick. Easy and freezer friendly, which leaves you more time to roll around on the lawn with a fork and some Gaviscon.
Carol B.
I didn't plant my garden until June, and feared I'd end up using all my tomatoes small and green for pickling, then suddenly they all are ripening. Your recipe could not have been more timely. I have been stuffing myself with three-tomato salads with fresh mozzarella balls for dinner, and while my oversized Kirby cucumbers are rotting in the refrigerator, because I haven't gotten around to making refrigerator pickles I can hardly wait to make your roasted tomato recipe. Your beautiful photos made me hungry, though it's nearly 2 a.m., and I should be asleep. I probably will throw in the few pathetically scrawny banana peppers that grew this year.
In the 20+ years that I have grown vegetables in raised beds, I have never been able to grow peppers successfully--not bells, not cubanelles, not bananas--while the lettuces, tomatoes, and cucumbers have been thriving. What am I doing wrong? Do peppers require different growing conditions?
Terry Rutherford
Right on time and I couldn’t figure out what to do with my red sweet peppers either! Thank you !