Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack in the center of the oven.
Tomatoes: Wash tomatoes and cut out the stem core. Slice the tomatoes in half
lengthwise and then quarter.
Garlic: Remove the papery skin from the whole garlic cloves.
Chile Peppers: Remove stems from chile peppers, cut in halves, and remove seeds.
Onions: Remove skins from onions and quarter. Strip the fresh herbs off their stems.
Place prepared tomatoes, garlic cloves, chile peppers, and herbs in a large roasting pan. Add olive oil and stir to combine.
Do not add any more liquid as the natural juices from the tomatoes will provide all the liquid that you need (and
sometimes more than you need). Bake approximately 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
|
Tomato mixture cooking in the oven. |
Tomato mixture done cooking. |
* I find that adding a little sugar to tomato
sauce after the sauce is cooked, but still hot, cuts some of the acid
and mellow the flavor. You don't want to add too much, so start with
approximately 1/2 teaspoon per quart. When making spaghetti sauce,
I add molasses instead of sugar.
Let the tomato mixture cool slightly before straining. Use a large strainer or
a food mill to remove the skins, seeds, and herbs. The resulting puree will be nice and thick. Season to taste with
salt and pepper. If you end up with more liquid than you want (this happens when you use regular garden tomatoes
and not Roma tomatoes), simmer the mixture over low heat until reduced to the thickness you want. This is what I had to do this time
because I used end-of-the-season large very ripe garden tomatoes.
