Garlic Tomato Sauce Recipe
Every summer, my Potager garden explodes with tomatoes. By mid September, my counters are covered in ripening tomatoes, and I feel that panic set in: “What am I going to do with all these tomatoes?!?
Can them? Freeze them? Cook them down into soup?
Feed them to the chickens and pretend this never happened? ;)
And then last year, I stumbled upon a random tomato sauce recipe on the internet. In true Lori fashion, I tweaked it a bit to suit my fancy… and y’all, IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE.
This sauce is rich, garlicky, buttery, silky… the kind you lick straight out of the pan when nobody's looking. Got picky eaters who turn their nose up at chunky tomato sauce? This is your secret weapon. We toss it with pasta and chicken, plus whatever vegetables are lying around… broccoli, peas, zucchini… whatever needs using up.
This is the most satisfying way to make a dent in a tomato glut. I like Bumblebee cherry tomatoes best, but truly any tomato will work.
Garlic Tomato Sauce
Rich, garlicky, buttery roasted tomato sauce. 100% addicting.
4 servings
Ingredients
2 pints cherry tomatoes (about 2.5 cups)
1 shallot, halved
1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Chopped fresh basil, to taste
Sea salt or Kosher salt, to taste
Steps
Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Load the baking dish: Drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil in a baking dish (9x13 or similar). Add 2 pints whole cherry tomatoes (about 2.5 cups). No need to halve them. Add the 1 shallot, halved, and 1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves. Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.
Roast: Roast until the tomatoes have split their skins and the garlic is soft, about 35-40 minutes.
Cool: Let the pan cool before handling.
Mill it: Pour the mixture into a hand-crank food mill set over a stock pot. Crank to remove skins and seeds. The puree collects in the pot below. Discard the skins and seeds. (Don’t have a food mill? You can pour the mixture in a fine mesh sieve and strain the seeds/skin out that way)
Finish the sauce: Stir 2 tablespoons butter into the warm puree. Cook until heated through, sprinkling with a bit more salt to taste.
Garnish and serve: Top with fresh chopped basil to taste, and 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, then serve.
Notes
Batch cooking: Quadruple the recipe when tomatoes are really piling up (2 baking dishes at a time). A 9x13 baking dish can hold a double batch. Double the roasting time when making bigger batches.
Freezing: This sauce freezes beautifully, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch. Skip the basil and cheese before freezing. Add them fresh right before serving.
You can use any type of tomato. Watery tomatoes may need extra roasting time.
You'll know the tomatoes are done roasting when your house smells intoxicating.
Yes, it's a lot of garlic. Buy extra heads, because you'll be making this again. Peeling the garlic is the most time-consuming step, so plan accordingly.
