Quick roasted tomato pasta sauce |
- 3lb cherry tomatoes
- 60 ml olive oil (plus few teaspoons extra)
- Small handful of basil leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 large bulbs of garlic, minced
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Large handful of sliced olives
- Large handful of finely ground Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 140 degrees (fan assisted) or 160 normal. Line two baking trays with tin foil and divide the tomatoes between the tins.
Drizzle over a little olive oil and ensure the tomatoes get coated then roast in the oven for around 30-40 minutes.
The tomatoes by this time will have burst the skins and start to shrivel. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and set aside.
In a large heavy bottomed pan heat 60ml of olive oil and then fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes until the onion has sweated out (looks a little see through).
Add the tomatoes along with any juice collected on the trays (careful tipping these in, it can get messy). Season with salt and pepper, add the herbs and mix thoroughly.
Turn the heat down to low, partially cover the pan and leave the tomatoes to simmer away for an hour or so, stirring occasionally.
Once cooked, leave the tomatoes to cool down somewhat then either place the mix into a blender and blend or use a stick blender and blend the tomatoes in the pan (which is easier and saves on some washing up!).
Leave the sauce to cool completely and then add the olives and Parmesan cheese. We only put the olives and cheese in at this stage as we want to keep the olives chunky and also we don't want the cheese to melt into hot sauce!
This sauce will be perfect with the pasta of your choice, however I would recommend conchiglie rigate or penne pasta as the sauce is quite thick and will cling to the pasta. The sauce will keep in the fridge for several days but making this sort of volume, keep some to one side to use now and then freeze the rest in small containers.
For this recipe I used mainly my home grown cherry tomatoes but also topped them up with some baby plum tomatoes. The sauce should look quite creamy and thick, if a bit thick for your liking you can always water it down slightly with some vegetable stock. I hope you enjoy...
The final dish! I used conchiglie rigate pasta and added chorizo and black olives