Roasted Tomato Sauce

Tomato season is upon us and the farm store is filled with them. We have several heirloom varieties which we are proud to grow along with some favorite red varieties and delicious, sweet cherry tomatoes. A little more on the heirloom varieties: while their interesting shapes and sizes make them unappealing for most stores to sell them, we find that their taste makes up for the appearance. Not to mention that we have pick them when they are just ripe enough to eat, so they don't store for more than a few days at a time. But just in case you don't get to them and they get a little too soft to enjoy raw, here is an excellent sauce recipe that Terry made on Saturday and we have all been enjoying since. Use any variety of tomatoes.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
In The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas

4 pounds of tomatoes
1 pound sweet onions, chopped
5 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
3 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped

Use very red summer tomatoes (12-16 medium tomatoes). Peel the tomatoes in the usual way: cut a cross in the bottom of each one with a sharp knife and put them into boiling water for 1 minute. Remove them from the hot water directly into cold water, then slip off their skins and trim them over a bowl, catching all juice. Cut the tomatoes into large chunks or wedges.

Peel and chop the onions. Peel and slice the garlic cloves. Toss together all the ingredients, including the juice of the tomatoes, and spread it all evenly over a large baking sheet with edges.

Put the tomatoes in a 375 degree oven and roast them for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring once after the first hour, then every 30 minutes or so. Most of the liquid will cook away and the tomatoes will melt into a soft, thick, slightly caramelized marmalade.

Serve this on pasta, with rice, on pizza, with polenta, in soups, in a quesadilla, in an omelet, or alongside anything that goes well with tomatoes.