It's that most tomato-y time of the year, and tonight the Kid and I are heading over to Miss J's to roast up a ton of spaghetti sauce. I like this so much better than your regular stewed sauce. It has a supper summery flavor. It can live in the freezer for months. And it cleans out the veggie bins in the fridge.
So start with a ton of tomatoes. The best sauce comes from a mix of toms, so I will throw grape tomatoes and any heirloom types I can find in with my standard romas. Cut each of the toms in half and place in a large metal baking dish (lasagna pans work best)
Quarter some onions and shallots and add to the mix. If you've got celery, chop it roughly and throw that in there too. Pop in whole Parisian mushrooms if you like. Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper. And sprinkle generously with your favorite Italian herbs. I usually cover it in basil, but if you're an oregano fan you can use that too.
Turn the oven on to broil (450 degrees) and place the pan on the bottom most rack.
At the same time, you can roast some garlic and peppers. I usually take 3 heads of garlic in a metal bread pan and brush liberally with olive oil. Place on top rack in broiling oven and turn heads over as each side becomes black. For peppers, just wash and place directly on the rack next to the garlic. Once all sides of the peppers are black, throw them into a paper bag to cool. Then skin, seed and chop.
The garlic and the peppers should finish before the toms. Once everything is done and roasted, peel the garlic and throw everything (including the liquid from the roasting pan) into a food processor. You will have little black chunks in your sauce. That is okay.
Kid likes his with meat- so I usually cook up some Italian sausage and reheat the sauce over the sausage while the noodles cook. Or you can go veg (or vegan if you get vegan Worcestershire sauce). Either way it's a mouth full of sunny goodness.
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