Seasonal local food recipe No.163: Roast tomato sauce
We’ve a glut of tomatoes in Camel CSA’s polytunnel. This quick and easy way of using up a surplus is rich and full-flavoured. I added a big bunch of our homegrown basil at the whizzing up stage.
It’s a River Cottage Community recipe. Lula, the author, says: “Once you have made this you will never use tinned tomatoes again! Make throughout the tomato season, freeze and defrost in the depths of winter when you need a reminder of summer…”
Serves: 4
Preparation: no more than 10 minutes
Cooking: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1kg ripe, full flavoured tomatoes (perfect for using up a glut)
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
Arrange the tomato halves, tightly packed but not covering each other, in an ovenproof dish. Slice the garlic and place a piece on each tomato half. Drizzle olive oil over the dish evenly and season with salt and pepper. Roast in medium hot oven around 180 degrees until soft, pulpy and slightly charred.River Cottage suggests rubbing through a sieve but for speed and to save waste, whizz in a food processor, skins and all. Perfect as a pasta sauce on its own or as a base for other sauces.
