Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce {with optional roasted veggie add-ins}
This roasted tomato marinara sauce is the perfect harvest dish. It is fresh and delicious and uses healthy ingredients (adding roasted vegetables is a great option too). Serve it over your choice of pasta or vegetable noodles for a delicious, harvest meal.
Ingredients
Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce:
- 12-14 (3 pounds) small/medium tomatoes see note
- ½ large onion quartered
- 3 whole cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt see note
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 5 large fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
- 4 4-inch sprigs fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3 4-inch sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
Optional Roasted Veggie Add-Ins:
- 1 small yellow squash diced, about 1 cup
- 1 small zucchini diced, about 1 cup
- 1 bell pepper any color, diced, about 1 cup
- ½ large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar optional
- 1 3-inch sprig rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
For Serving:
- hot cooked pasta
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce:
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare tomatoes by washing and coring. You can cut some of them in half or leave them whole. Place tomatoes in a 9x13-inch dish. Arrange quartered onion pieces and 3 whole garlic cloves in pan. Drizzle olive oil over and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.
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Roast tomatoes for 1 hour at 425 degrees F until tomatoes have blackened slightly. Remove from the oven and place roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic and juices in a blender jar along with fresh basil, oregano, and thyme. Puree until smooth.
Optional Roasted Veggie Add-Ins:
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While tomatoes are roasting, add diced yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers, and onions to a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk together minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar (optional), and rosemary. Pour over diced vegetables and toss well.
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Pour vegetable mixture onto 9x13-inch baking dish, sprinkle with salt, and roast in 425 degree oven for 30 minutes or until vegetables become soft and golden brown. Pro Tip: You can put these in the oven during the last 30 minutes of roasting time for the tomatoes so everything comes out at the same time.
For Serving:
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In a medium saucepan, add roasted vegetables and marinara sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes and add additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve sauce over hot cooked pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes
1. You can make this dish with 3 pounds of any size or type of tomatoes. If you want the sauce a little thicker, add more plum or roma-type tomatoes. No need to peel the tomatoes (I never do), but if you want to, the peels will slip of really easily after roasting them.
2. You can use any type of coarse salt here (or regular salt if you don't have coarse salt), but the coarse sea salt is my favorite.
3. Works great as a lasagna sauce. Add browned ground beef or Italian sausage for an omnivorous version.