I love pasta. If it were up to me and I could eat as much as I want without the worry of carbs, I would eat pasta at least 3-4 times a week.
For me the secret to good pasta lies in its sauce. Today I am sharing one of my favorite ways to prepare pasta/pizza sauce from scratch. I have quite a few tried and tested recipes. For a meat based sauce I use my dad’s spaghetti sauce recipe. When I have cherry tomatoes, this Marco Pierre’s pasta sauce recipe is what I make. But on most days when I make pasta sauce from scratch I use this recipe that I am sharing today.
The recipe is easy but takes some time to come together. It isn’t active cooking time, since the oven does most of the work. Slow roasting the tomatoes releases the sweet juices in them and imparts a lovely flavor. Roasting a red bell pepper along with the tomatoes gives the final sauce that lovely red color you see in store bought sauces, without adding any canned tomatoes to the sauce. And to it, if you add roasted garlic, the sauce becomes absolute perfection in terms of flavor.
I have made this recipe many times and each time it comes out lovely. I have tried my best to note the exact measurements but I do adjust the seasonings and herbs according to taste each time, forgetting to make a note of how much. I would advise you to do adjust the seasonings according to your taste preferences.
I apologize for keeping this space unattended for some time. I am trying to change that. In another post I will share what has been keeping me busy, but for now I hope you get to try this sauce. If you do, please tag me on instagram, facebook or twitter.
Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce
Author: Shumaila
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 cups
Roasting tomatoes brings out a great flavor to this easy pasta sauce recipe.
Ingredients
8-10 tomatoes, halved (about 1 kg)
1 red bell pepper
one entire bulb of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
1tbsp butter
1.5 small onions, finely chopped
1 tsp each dried oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary (if using fresh use a handful of herbs)
1 cup chicken or veg stock
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp tobasco
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Line a baking tray with foil, and grease it with some olive oil. Line the tomatoes. Rub some olive oil on the red bell pepper and put that on the tray too. Drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle salt.
Chop the top off the garlic bulb, and drizzle some oil and salt on the top. Wrap the bulb in a piece of foil and put on the baking tray with the tomatoes and red bell pepper. Roast the tomatoes and bell pepper for about 40 minutes, or till the tomatoes begin to caramelize and bell pepper seems roasted.
Remove from oven.
Let cool a little. Remove skin of bell pepper. To easily peel off skin after I remove the tray from the oven, I wrap the bell pepper in some foil. Once cool, I remove the foil and find its easier to peel of the skin. You can also remove the peel off the tomatoes in this step.
Peel removed, put the bell pepper, roasted tomatoes in a blender. Squeeze out the roasted garlic from its skin and add it to the blender. If using fresh herbs I add them here. I have fresh oregano and tarragon and thats what I used for fresh herbs here. I added the dried herbs in later.
In a saucepan heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the finely chopped onions. Season with some salt. Once the onions are translucent, add the roasted tomato paste, and 1 cup stock. . Season with salt and pepper according to taste. Add the dried herbs and crushed red pepper and tobasco. Cook for 10 minutes on a low flame, till its thick enough. The sauce is ready.
To use the sauce in pizza
I roast the onions with the tomatoes in the first step. Once roasted, I blend everything and my pizza sauce is ready, removing the need to saute the onion and adding stock.
To use the roasted tomatoes in soup form
I roast the onions with the tomatoes in the first step.. Then in a sauce pan, add a little butter, and add the roasted veggies/garlic, along with 1 litre stock- you can use veggie or chicken stock, a handful of fresh basil leaves and let the mixture come to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add some grated parmesan cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Once cooked, blend the mixture in the mixie. You can leave it a little coarse if you want, or puree it smooth as per your wish. Serve the soup warm, with a drizzle of cream, and garnish of fresh basil.
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