Baked Tomato Sauce
For those of you that watch Alton Brown's Good Eats program on The Food Network, you will no doubt recognize this as a modified version of his recipe. I use a mix of fresh heirloom tomatoes from the garden rather than store bought roma tomatoes, for a much richer taste. If you don't have your own garden, I highly recommend finding your local farmer's market or farm stand where you can find a better variety of vine ripened fruit rather than the stuff in the stores that was shipped green and gassed to get its color.
On the show they seed the tomatoes before baking, but in my opinion the goo around the seeds is where some of the best flavor is, and contrary to what they say, leaving the seeds in during baking does not lead to bitterness. While I grow my own fresh herbs, I find that quality dry herbs actually work better for this sauce, and you can add fresh herbs when you are preparing your final dish. My final change to the original recipe is that I don't add wine before reducing. I didn't notice the improvement in the tomato flavor that AB claims, I just noticed an alcohol flavor.
I also <GASP!> can my sauce, even though it is not an FDA approved recipe. If you do can it, you do it at your own risk. I take quite a few precautions, including adding lemon juice and pressure canning instead of water bath canning, so I don't feel too concerned. I haven't gotten sick from it yet, but you have to make your own choice about whether it is worth the "risk".
This recipe is on a "per roasting pan" basis, but I rarely make only one pan's worth. I try to make at least 4 pans at a time so I'm not running the oven and stove in the summer for just a few pints of sauce.
- cutting board and sharp knife
- a couple of roasting pans or non-stick cake pans
- sauce maker or food mill
- sauce pan
- pressure canner
- pint mason jars and lids
- ladle
- wide mouth funnel
Ingredients
- Tomatoes, halved. Enough to fill a roasting pan one layer deep
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic (from a jar is fine for this)
For Canning
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice per pint jar
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees
- Place the tomato halves into your pan, cut side up.
- Sprinkle the salt over the tomatoes. This helps start drawing out the liquid.
- After a few minutes, sprinkle the pepper over the tomatoes, or just grind it directly onto them till it looks like enough.
- Mix the Italian herbs into the oil (helps keep them from burning) and drizzle it over the tomatoes.
- Top with the chopped onions and garlic and then toss it in the oven.
- Cook at 325 for one hour. Check how they are doing, and reduce heat to 300 if it seems like things are starting to overcook already. This is also the time to put in any pans of cherry tomatoes that you may have. Cook for an additional hour
- Finish them off by turning it up to 400 for another 30 minutes.
- Process through your sauce maker. I have a cheap one, so I usually put my discards through a second time to get some extra sauce out of it.
- Cook it in a sauce pan until it reaches your desired thickness.
For canning
For canning, I put the sauce in pint jars and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar. I then pressure can them at 11 PSI for 10 minutes.
You should never use any sauce from a can where the lid has popped back up, and you should boil it for a few minutes before using. This cooking time is also a good time to add fresh herbs and garlic to liven it up a bit.