Day 211–Regaining Our Locavore Mojo and Roasted Tomato Sauce

We are back from a week at the beach and Ellie has started middle school, so it’s time to get organized and back on track. We didn’t do too badly on vacation. We did take huge amounts of local fruit salad and potato salad along with homemade chicken salad and assorted frozen Trader Joes meals. We did, however, have ice cream and brownies and fried seafood and while they were all good, my scale is showing that ice cream + no gym workouts are a bad combination. Time to get back on track!

Before we left, I did go to a big produce sale held by The Produce Box. I stocked up on Roma tomatoes and jalapeno peppers, both of which I froze whole and red bell peppers, which I bought for .50 each (and they were HUGE!!). I roasted them on the grill, peeled and sliced them and froze the roasted peppers in little bags for later. In hindsight, buying all that produce right before leaving for the beach was probably not the best idea since I was already stressed about making our food in advance of the trip, but it all worked out in the end.

I have officially reached the point where I honestly need a freezer. I think I can manage an upright freezer in my laundry room, once I scootch some things around. And when I do, I’m making some more of this unbelievably delicious roasted tomato sauce. This sauce gets frozen, rather than canned, and it is so thick and bursting with flavor that it may become my new “go-to” pasta sauce. I love it because it is very flavorful, but also, it pretty much makes itself. You can add whatever spices you want while the tomatoes are roasting, or you can keep it simple and add specific spices when you use the sauce. And I have to say, your house will smell AMAZING!!!! Give it a try!

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Romas are best for this sauce as they have less water, but any tomato will do–you will need to adjust your roasting time for very juicy tomatoes!

• Any amount of tomatoes (I have been roasting 2-5 lbs. at a time)
• 2-4 garlic cloves, sliced thin or minced
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Wash tomatoes and cut into halves (romas) or quarters (for larger tomatoes).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line one or more baking sheets with foil.
3. Put tomato pieces on a foil lined baking sheet.
4. Sprinkle garlic pieces, salt and pepper over tomatoes.
5. Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes.
6. Put baking sheet in the oven and roast tomatoes for about 2 hours. Check on them periodically and stir them around a bit.
7. Roast tomatoes until the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes are a bit charred and shriveled.
8. Put all tomatoes and garlic pieces in a bowl.
9. Use an immersion stick blender and puree the tomatoes until they are to your liking. I like mine fairly chunky, but you can make this as smooth as you like.
10. Store in freezer safe containers in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Posted by Deanna on July 31, 2012

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