Roasted Tomato Sauce with Fresh Herbs
1 sprig rosemary
3-4 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs sage
2 bay leaves
olive oil, as needed
4 (2 1/2 pounds or less) ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package button mushrooms, chopped
2-5 cloves garlic, smashed
kosher or black lava salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (make sure you have the middle rack in place). Bind all the fresh herbs with twine for bouquet garni. Drizzle olive oil in a baking pan, enough so it is well coated. I used a glass baking dish (13" x 9").
2. Add all of the vegetables to pan. Sprinkle salt and black pepper. Drizzle a bit more olive oil on top and toss in pan. Place the bouquet garni in the middle of the pan, underneath the vegetables.
3. Roast on the middle rack, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 45-60 minutes. Roasting for the full 60 minutes brings out more intensity from the tomatoes. Remember, it's okay if there is a bit of burning around the edges.
Use this over pasta, but my favorite is spreading it on toasted ciabatta the next day.
Source of recipe: I planted tomato plants for the first time and had an abundance of fresh tomatoes. I needed a recipe to use 'em up!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This is a flavorful, hearty dish that's also healthy! Reminds me of ratatouille. I added a green bell pepper and some lemon juice, and the only herbs I used were basil and rosemary because that's what I had on hand. I didn't chop things very small out of laziness. I ate it on whole wheat rotelle pasta (the shape went nice with the chunkiness) and parmesan cheese. Delicious!