We are absolutely in love with this roasted tomato sauce. It tastes like I am eating fresh, amazing tomatoes in the middle of winter. It also works so well on homemade pizza.

I have thought about making sauce in the past, but the idea of canning is just too much for me at this point. Freezing is so my thing though, so when I realized I could freeze this and have oven-roasted tomato sauce all year round, I was hooked — especially since I just bought a huge box of canning tomatoes for $6. It doesn’t get better than that!

Making the sauce is super easy. It just takes time to cut the garlic and other veggies you want to add. The great thing about this sauce is that you really can use any vegetables or seasonings you prefer. I use onions and peppers typically, but if I have other vegetables in the fridge I throw them in as well. 

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Makes about 20 cups

• Tomatoes (approx. 8 lbs)
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 onion
• Any other veggies you prefer (peppers, carrots, zucchini)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp.  kosher salt
• pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Chop garlic, onion, and other veggies (a rough chop is fine). Core tomatoes and slice them into halves. In a roasting pan or baking dish, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to coat the bottom. Place tomatoes in pan sliced-side down. Top with garlic, veggies, and seasonings. Drizzle the Balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes. Roast for 50 minutes. Pour pan into food processor and purée. Pour sauce into freezer quart-size bags, and freeze.

I typically freeze sauce in portions of 2½ cups for pasta and 1 cup for pizza.