Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce

After I  finished the apple sauce Saturday, Belinda and I still had time to chop up the end-of-the season tomatoes to make roasted marinara sauce.

The beauty of this recipe is that you use what you have including tomatoes that are going over the hill.  Oven roasted vegetables of any kind are extra flavorful and so is this sauce which can be used for spaghetti, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, anything you would use a marinara sauce for.

Method

Using a deep roasting pan, or two 9 X 13 pans, drizzle the bottom of the pan with olive oil – 1-2 Tbsp.  Fill with chopped tomatoes – any kind or combination of tomatoes is fine.

Slice up 1-2 medium onions and arrange over the top of the tomatoes.  Add herbs such as basil, garlic, oregano, thyme, and rosemary to taste along with some hot red peppers if desired.  Sprinkle some salt over the pan. Roast the onions/tomatoes for 90 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Allow to cool.  Run through the blender, package in 2 – 4 cup portions and freeze.

You can add tomato paste to make it thicker, or pour off some liquid if desired before pureeing in the blender.  Adjust seasonings.

I enjoyed this sauce over spaghetti squash last year.  I also added some Parmesan cheese and pine nuts to the sauce in the blender before heating for an extra rich flavor.