Amazingly Sweet and Delicious "Fire Roasted" Cherry Tomato Sauce
Tomato lovers – if you tried any which way to enjoy tomatoes in season, give this a try. As it turned out, naturally sweet cherry tomatoes, cut in half and broiled, can give you a surprisingly delicious and versatile tomato sauce. A brief disclaimer: I love the whole tomato – skin, pulp, seeds along with flesh – but if you are in the habit of peeling and seeding tomatoes, this is probably not for you.
What do You do with Heaps of Cherry Tomatoes?
We have been fortunate to be able to grow cherry tomatoes in our urban rooftop garden and wait to harvest them until they are ruby red and ripe. Tossed straight in your mouth, in a salad, in a noodle dish like the this tahini noodle, they are juicy and sweet treats any time of the day. The catch is – we have been too blessed and we have been struggling to catch up with consuming them.
Among the things I tried … Adding to the sheet pan vegetable roast mix – to make sure different types of vegetables are cooked roughly at the same time, I’ve cut tomatoes in half and pressed them down.
Cutting in half and adding to a host of ingredients piled on top of a brisket meat to be roasted, which included celery, carrot, red and yellow onions, oregano, red wine, soy sauce, and spices. After the roast is complete, I’ve strained and transferred all the vegetables, added about half of the juice back, and reduced briefly. Makes a great stew base.
An obvious solution is to make a copious amount of tomato sauce.
In doing so, I tried first roasting whole cherry tomatoes, sometimes together with other ingredients, like pepper, celery, carrot, etc. (garlic and onions are sauteed separately). It worked out fine, but took them over 30 minutes to get nicely roasted.
So naturally then tried with tomatoes cut in half, and roasted. It worked out just fine with a shorter time. Then I thought what if I broiled like almost making “fire roasted” tomatoes with partially charred skins? It turned out the resulting sauce is earthy, sweet, and thick, just the way I wanted. So here it is, easy and (relatively) quick, fire roasted cherry tomato sauce.
A few minor steps to make a difference
Here are a couple of things that helped make this sauce special for me:
- Before broiling, lightly season the tomatoes with your favorite spice mix, or just salt and pepper or paprika. I usually use the turmeric spice mix I make ahead and add more of other spices (paprika, oregano, etc.)
- If you like nicely toasted garlic, after heating up olive oil in a pan, before adding onion and other ingredients, first saute minced garlic only on a medium heat, and fish them out to add back later. The oil will be flavored garlic when you are ready to add other ingredients.
- Easy way to dice onion – after peeling, cut off the bottom, and cut deep slits all around. Then, cut it in half, lay flat on the board, and chop them finely. The least tear inducing way I found.
Now use it in everything!
Because the sauce freezes very well, I usually divide them in multiple containers, some small like an ice cube tray, some in medium or large tabs. In addition to using it as tomato sauce for pasta, quinoa, and pilaf, etc., You can also incorporate it in many different dishes in varying sizes, like lasagna, chili, oxtail soup, crispy chicken bake, savory cherry tomato pie, etc.
Enjoy it in your own way!
“Fire” Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 pints cherry tomatoes
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 bulbs yellow onion
- 1 bell pepper green, red, or any color
- 3 stalks celery optional
- 8 oz mushrooms typical one carton
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 oz basil leaves optional and the amount varies, based on your preference
- 0.5 oz fresh oregano leaves can use dried as well
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
Prep cherry tomatoes
- Wash cherry tomatoes and dry very well on a towel
- Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil on a sheet pan. Cut the tomatoes in half and line up on the pan, and lightly season with your favorite seasoning. I usually use the turmeric mix I make ahead.
- Broil high on a upper rack for 10 min. Take the pan out, shake the tomatoes to rotate and put back in the broiler. Depending on how “charred” the skins look so far, broil for another 8-10 minutes. You’d want to see about 1/2 of tomato skin nicely charred and the juices and pulps roasted.
Prep and saute remaining ingredients
- Mince garlic cloves, finely dice onions and peppers, and slice mushrooms. If you have celery stalks at hand, dice them as well.
- Heat a heavy pan or skillet and swirl about 2 tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat and add red pepper flakes if you are using.
- Saute minced garlic until they are lightly golden and fish them out. They will continue to brown a little further after you fish them out.
- Let the garlic pieces left while you are sauteing onions and other ingredients.
- Increase the heat to medium high and saute diced onions until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- If you prefer them caramelized, continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add bell peppers and oregano and other ingredients (like sliced mushrooms and celery), add back the garlic pieces, and stir well.
Combine everything together
- Check to see whether the tomatoes are done the way you like (nicely charred, bubbling with goodness of pulp, juice, and seeds), and if they are, add them all to the pan.
- Stir well and cook in medium head for about 10 minutes. Taste and add salt (1 to 2 tsp) as you like.
- Add basil leaves and gives it another stir, and let it rest. It takes better if you let them cool and heat it up right before eating.
Nutrition
About The Author
MayumiW
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