In the past I used store-bought tomato sauce until the rich red color made me suspicious. The labels showed “Imported by…” or “Prepared for…” but no country of manufacture. Food distributors rarely label anything “Made in China” because they know many consumers will refuse to buy it.

So, wanting to make my own tomato sauce, I found, tried and modified this tasty & healthy recipe from this link.

Roasting tomatoes creates an incredible richness in taste that fresh tomatoes do not have. I make a large batch of 40 tomatoes and freeze it in Ziplock Freezer bags for future pasta recipes.

Roma Tomatoes are the best for roasting because out of all the tomato varieties, they have the least seeds.

Tip: don’t overdo the spices because roasting intensifies their taste

Ingredients:

• About 25 Roma tomatoes, (or more to your preference). You need enough tomatoes (cut in half) to cover one or more large baking sheets, cut side down.

• Several cloves of garlic (according to your preference), peeled (or you can use the already minced garlic in a jar)

• 1 or 2 medium sized onions (yellow if you like onion flavor, red if you don’t)

• Your favorite oil – I coat the pans with Coconut oil and red Palm oil (high in heart friendly, short molecule, saturated fats rich in Super Vitamin E and loaded with carotenoids). Olive oil should NOT be cooked or roasted (only used at room temperatures).

• Course salt (I use pink Himalaya rock salt), fresh pepper (to your liking) and your favorite spices. See bottom of recipe for my favorite “digestive” herbs & spices.

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F prior to roasting.

• Wash, slice them in half, and using a sharp paring knife remove the core, the stem and seeds from the tomatoes (a teaspoon helps, too).

• Lay them cut side down on large, oiled baking sheets, cookie sheets or several cake pans.

• Tuck the garlic cloves in among the tomatoes
• Peel onion(s) and slice. Separate onion pieces and scatter among the tomatoes
• Drizzle it with your favorite oil (NOT Olive oil)
• Sprinkle salt, pepper and spices all over it

• Roast in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the skin begins to break or brown

• Cool down and transfer the tomatoes in batches to the blender and pulse until the desired consistency is reached.

• Pour each batch into a large bowl and stir well for uniformity.

• Transfer sauce into Ziploc Freezer bags, marked with the date and contents (to avoid future mysteries).

TIP: If you plan to freeze the bags, cool them first in the fridge, then freeze laid out flat on a cookie sheet or cardboard to make it easier to store in your freezer. Freeze a small amount at a time. The faster they freeze the more flavor and nutrients they retain.

Digestive herbs & spices: basil, cayenne, coriander, cumin, curry, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme & a dash of turmeric (too much leaves a metallic taste). Ask anyone what our office lunchroom smells like after I nuke a frozen lunch made with dashes of these spices.

Note: curry and turmeric will give the sauce a yellow color so avoid these spices if you want a red sauce.

Enjoy the health and taste of your own tomato sauce that’s NOT Made in China! You’ll never again consider store-bought tomato sauce.

Gerold

P.S. hints & suggestions are always welcome.