Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta Sauce

Once again tomato season is upon us and I am experimenting with 2 of my favorite recipes to (hopefully) make something delicious.

Combining my regular pasta sauce and tomato soup recipe to hopefully make a delicious roasty and garlicy sauce.

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta Sauce

I roasted about 3 Lbs (1 sheet pan) of roma tomatoes and garlic cloves, they were drizzled with lots of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 degrees farehneight.

While the tomatoes roasted I caramelized an onion and sauteed a green pepper to really bring out their flavours.

Once everything was cooked and cooled it all went into the food processor (chunks are not a favorite in this house) then popped into a big pop with a can of tomato paste and tomato sauce (just go no name guys- best bang for your buck especially right now)

For herbs I thew in 1 TBSP of parsley, basil, garlic powder, cilantro and oregano. I also added in some vegan “cheese” since it was in the fridge.

I let this witches brew simmer for about 3 hours and I have to say the results were absolutely fantastic. The taste was sweet yet savory still, it was not too runny nor was it too thick. I know I’ll never be able to make it quite like this again but I will certainly be using this technique going forward.

Final Product: Penne pasta with local lean ground beef and homemade roasted tomato pasta sauce

Recipe: Roasted Basil and Tomato Soup

It still amazes me how many tomatoes I grew this year. I discovered so many ways to utilize them and I think this tomato and basil soup recipe from Ambitious Kitchen was the best.

It is chocked full of tomatoes, garlic, onions and fresh basil and makes a perfect addition with your grilled cheese on a chilly day.

I did my soup over the span of 2 days so I wouldn’t be putting hot tomatoes in my already-starting-to-fall-apart food processor.

The Recipe is below or you can follow the above link to the original:

For the roasted tomatoes

• 3 pounds roma or plum tomatoes, cut in half

• 8 cloves garlic, peeled

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• Freshly ground salt and pepper

  For the caramelized onions:

• ½ tablespoon olive oil

• 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

  Additions to the soup:

• ½ cup packed basil leaves

• ½ teaspoon dried oregano

• 1-2 cups water or vegetarian broth, depending on how thick you want the soup

• Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place halved tomatoes and garlic cloves on the baking sheet and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Generously season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

2. While the tomatoes are roasting, you can make the caramelized onions: Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to a large pot and place over medium heat. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with olive oil. Cook, stirring occasionally. Check onions every 5-10 minutes until they have completely caramelized and turned golden in color. This usually takes 20 minutes.

3. Once tomatoes and garlic are done roasting, allow them to cool for 10 minutes, then add them to a food processor or high powered blender and blend until smooth. Next add basil and caramelized onions and blend again. Alternatively you can add the tomatoes to the large pot and use an immersion blender. It's really just about what you have available to you.

4. After blending, transfer back to pot, turn to medium low heat and add in oregano, vegetarian broth and salt and pepper to taste. From there you can add in any additional add-ons you want (as listed in the ingredients). Allow tomato soup to simmer 10 minutes before serving. To serve, garnish with parmesan cheese and serve with grilled cheese, if desired. Serves 4.

The website also has a few variations you can play with but I enjoyed the above recipe with no alterations, plus I knew I’d be portioning it off for freezing (soup season prep crucial) and I figured it would freeze better with no creamy additives.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!