There are so many recipes out there for pizza sauce and this is my favorite for three reasons: 1. It’s super simple to make. 2. You just roast the ingredients then throw them in a pot and blend to finish. 3. It’s delicious.
Roasting the garlic and tomatoes ensures that you get a sweet, rich flavour with no added sugar. And it stores really well so I can make a year’s worth all at once, which is a good thing because I really only like tomatoes in the summer. I grow lots of varieties and use all different kinds for sauce, so every year it tastes a bit different.
This year, my neighbour gave me a basket of some unnamed Italian varieties that she grows year after year. I used some red beefsteak tomatoes that were just bursting at the seams. If you use a juicer tomato for sauce (as opposed to a Roma or cherry) you can just take a bit more time to reduce the sauce. The flavor will still be amazing!
- 4 extra large beefsteak tomatoes, perfectly ripe
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 medium onions
- A few sprigs of fresh oregano
- A handful of fresh basil
- Olive oil, salt, and pepper
[/url]- Preaheat oven to 325 degrees C on a roast setting if you have it. Cut tomatoes in half, removing tough core and stem pieces, and place cut side up in a roasting pan. Cut the top of the garlic bulb and place cut side up in the roasting pan as well. Drizzle the tomatoes and garlic generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 45 minutes or until the tomatoes and garlic are soft and becoming browned.
- Dice the onion and finely chop the leaves of the herbs and add to a large pot with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook the onions and herbs by stirring them as they cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent and starting to brown.
[/url]- Add the roasted tomatoes to the pot with the onions. Squeeze the garlic out of the skin into the pot; it should come out of the cut top like toothpaste. Stir well and bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until all the ingredients break part easily.
[/url]- Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Continue to simmer if the sauce needs to reduce further. When it has reached the desired consistency, pour sauce into clean glass jars with at least ¾" of headspace to allow for the expansion that happens when freezing.
- Freeze sauce for up to one year in a deep freeze or 3-6 months in a standard freezer.
Used In This Project:
- Small Diamond Hang Tags • I chose the “Five & Dime” style in blue and orange.
- Circle Labels • I chose the “Five & Dime” style in blue and orange.
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Stephanie Rose is a gardener who lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she has grown over 100 edibles, 400 perennials, and countless other plants in her small urban yard; a hobby that continues to grow with each season. Stephanie writes DIY garden projects, yummy recipes and crafty goodness at Garden Therapy where she hopes you will find something to inspire you to get outside for a little, well, garden therapy.
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