September brings the start of school, lots of Jewish Holidays and not enough time to deal with all the tomatoes in my backyard. My quick and easy solution is this roasted tomato sauce. It can be done in a frying pan or a big roasting pan, depending on how many tomatoes you have. If you have a few extra minutes you can take the time to sauté the onion and garlic first, if not, just chop it up, toss it with an assortment of tomatoes (whole or cut), some olive oil, salt, pepper and some fresh basil, or other herbs like marjoram, oregano or thyme, and pack the whole thing into the oven at about 425 degrees. If you are in a real rush to get dinner on the table, do a quick sauté of all the ingredients on the stove top and then stick it under the broiler. Stir occasionally so the tomatoes don't burn, and in a few minutes, you have sauce. Enjoy it as is, tossed over pasta, in rice, greens, meat or beans or puree it a bit for a more traditional tomato sauce. If you happen to have an over grown zucchini lurking in the backyard too, split it open, remove the seeds, and dice it up for sauce.
Frying pan version: I sautéd the ingredients before sticking them under the broiler.
Roasting pan version: I split the larger tomatoes, tossed all the raw ingredients with olive oil, salt and pepper and put the whole pan in a 425 degree oven. Siting occasionally until the tomatoes were very soft with lightly browned edges, about 45 minutes.
The sauce is great with the roasted whole tomatoes as is (in the photo at the top), or give it a quick puree in a blender or with a stick blender, and enjoy.
If you want to grow tomatoes next year, all you need is a sunny spot, a big bucket, some good dirt and a little $3 plant (try a sun gold orange cherry tomato, it's especially prolific). If you are fortunate enough to have lots of tomatoes to work with, what do you do with them?
