Big Bad Dad loves to garden. We have more hops, raspberries and tomatoes than we know what to do. The hops, which we dry, are for homebrew. The raspberries are delicious by themselves. But the tomatoes? Well, how many do you need for a salad?
Obviously, making a tomato sauce would be the best idea. But until I saw Alton Brown’s Good Eats episode on tomatoes, I never came across a recipe I cared for, especially one this easy and tasty.
Since we get a ton of tomatoes from our garden I like to double the recipe.
Tomato Sauce Recipe
Courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Tomatoes
20 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded (I have no idea what varieties of tomatoes we grown in our garden. Since the sauce turned out so well, I think any variety with do in a pinch.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup finely diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped oregano leaves (I substituted 1 tsp. each of the dried herbs.)
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 cup white wine (It’s interesting that he uses white instead of red. I think it tastes just fine.)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans place tomato halves cut side up. (I used one really large pan, the one I cook the turkey in at Thanksgiving.) Sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs.
Bake tomatoes for 2 hours. Check the tomatoes after 1 hour and turn down the heat if they seem to be cooking too quickly. Then turn the oven to 400 degrees and bake another 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and process tomatoes through a food mill on medium dye setting over a small saucepan. Discard skins. (On the TV show, Alton said if you don’t mind the skins and seeds, to use your food processor to puree the tomatoes, which I did. I did not strain it. I think the seeds give the sauce a unique, crunchy texture.)
Add white wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
FYI, Roma tomatoes are also known as “plum” tomatoes. They’re sorta the size and shape of large grade A eggs.
Thanks for posting this recipe. I saw him make this on the show and I have been wanting to try it too. We have SO many tomatoes. We have been through: gazpacho, salsa, bruschetta. Now it is time to sauce!!