Simple 5 Ingredient Tomato Sauce
Homemade tomato sauce made with just 5 simple ingredients. This is a simple, rustic take on homemade sauce. Use it on pasta, lasagnas, and eggplant parmesan. Delicious in every way!
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 - 5 pounds of tomatoes use a variety!
- 7-14 whole garlic cloves with the inner skin on
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
- a few sprigs of basil
Optional add-ins:
- 1-3 teaspoons sugar pinch of red pepper flakes, onions, carrots, homemade basil pesto, and homemade sun-dried pesto
Instructions
- Position two racks in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300ºF.
- Cut the tomatoes down the center if you prefer a more charred and rich flavor, leave them whole for a more vibrant red sauce. For smaller grape or cherry tomatoes, I suggest you leave them whole. Add the tomatoes and garlic onto two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and season generously with salt and pepper. Massage the tomatoes and garlic to ensure they are evenly coated. Roast in the oven for 3 hours, stopping every 30-45 minutes to give them a toss. The tomatoes are done when they start to burst and shrink in size. Remove trays from the oven and let cool.
- Peel the garlic cloves before tossing everything into a blender or food processor along with the basil. At this point, you can change it up! I usually toss in a big pinch of red pepper flakes for an arrabiatta style sauce. Pestos, also work well. For a chunkier sauce, I suggest you use to the pulse button until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. I usually just let it blend until it's smooth. Leftover sauce can be kept for 1 week in the refrigerator or frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
- If you plan on using onions or carrots, cut the onions into large wedges and the carrots into 3-4 pieces and allow them to roast with the tomatoes - it's a nice way to sneak in some additional veggies. This is how I make the base for my secret ingredient tomato basil soup!
