Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

A ridiculously easy pasta sauce using a bunch of mixed cherry tomatoes and a few aromatics. Requires 5 minutes of prep and 40 minutes of letting the oven make your kitchen smell amazing. (Plus however long boiling up some pasta or toasting bread takes you.)

Flavours and Textures

Tomatoes, onions, garlic, and some optional basil roast down in plenty of olive oil to create a jammy sweet and fragrant sauce that is delicious over pasta, polenta, or scooped out of the pan with bread. Serve mashed up with a fork for some texture or use an immersion blender to puree everything smooth. Plenty of olive oil cooks into the sugars of the tomatoes to create a rich sauce that is naturally vegan.

Why You Should Make This

If you have a bunch of cherry tomatoes that you haven’t managed to snack through yet—whether you over bought at the farmers market or harvested way more than you expected from a garden or maybe there was an unresistable sale—this sauce is perfect for when you have no energy but plenty of time to leave something in the oven. Take five minutes to prep things, set a timer and get back to your projects (or a tv episode, what convenient timing) and leave everything to roast together. If you remember, cook some pasta up in the last 10 minutes or eat it right out of the pan with bread (even fewer dishes!). Simple, minimal dishes, and the leftovers are easy to store and reheat.

Also perfect for tomatoes that have split or are getting to end of their freshness. Larger “cocktail” tomatoes can be cut in half for this recipe.

Most Importantly

Don’t skimp on the olive oil. The 90’s called and want their fat phobia back. Lots of oil is what creates the satisfying, rich mouthfeel to cut through the acidity of the tomatoes. Plus, many of the aromatic compounds present in the other ingredients are most soluble in fat—meaning we can taste them better when they have time to infuse into it. Do your mouth a favour and embrace the oil.

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Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine California, Italian

Keyword pasta, tomatoes

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Pasta Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 3 cups/600g cherry/plum/pear tomatoes
• 1/2 medium/75g yellow onion sliced
• 6 cloves/30g garlic peeled and whole
• 10 large leaves fresh basil optional
• 6 tbsp/90ml olive oil
• 1/2 tsp/3g salt
• 1/2 tsp/1g ground black pepper
• (or 1/4 tsp/ 1/2 g crushed red pepper flakes for spicy sauce)

To serve

• Cooked pasta or crusty bread
• Parmesan optional
• Chopped basil or parsley

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F/190 C. Have a large baking dish ready.
• Wash and dry the tomatoes. Scatter in the baking dish.
• Thinly slice the onion lengthwise, parallel to the veins, into 1/4”/6mm ribbons. Peel the garlic cloves. Optional: lightly smash them with side of knife.
• Wash and dry the basil leaves if using.
• Scatter the onions, garlic, and basil around the tomatoes, tossing slightly to get everything mixed in.
• Drizzle the olive oil over everything. Do not skimp on olive oil. Sprinkle on salt and pepper.
• Roast for 40-50 minutes, until the tomatoes are burst, the onions are browned and disintegrating, and the garlic is golden and fragrant.
• Remove from oven. Smash with the back of a fork or blend with an immersion blender.
• Serve over pasta, polenta, or scoop out of the pan with crusty bread.

Storage and Leftovers

• Sauce stores in the fridge for 3 days. Heat before serving. Store separately from pasta. If blended, sauce can be frozen in individual portions of about 1/2 cup/115g for 1-2 months.

Notes

Add some protein: Add 1 can/1 2/3 cups/290g cooked and drained white beans (navy, cannellini, butter beans, etc.) and an additional 2 tbsp/30ml olive oil. Increase salt to 1 tsp/6g.