In the summer, tomatoes are at their sweetest and are perfect to use in this Roasted Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce. Oven roasting the tomatoes, along with onion and garlic, intensifies the flavors and the addition of fresh basil, is all you need for an everyday sauce to serve over gnocchi or any of your favorite pastas.

A bowl of pasta with fresh tomato sauce with a board of fresh pastas, tomatoes and basil behind

For this recipe (salsa di pomodoro fresca, in Italian) I am going to show you how to oven roast tomatoes for the most delicious sauce that could not be easier.

Roasted tomato sauce in a black cast iron bowl with tomatoes, garlic, pasta and basil in the background

If you have a bounty of home-grown tomatoes, this is your recipe. Even if your tomatoes are not so ripe, the roasting will concentrate them and soften them to bring out their flavor.

Fresh linguine, gnocchi, tomatoes and fresh basil on a board with tomato sauce in background

This sauce is great to keep in the freeze and it is best to store in tiptop bags. This serves 2 purposes, 1 they can store flat so you can stack them and they don’t take up a lot of room and 2, if they are portioned, you can just pull the bag out of the freezer when you need it. Microwave, or drop the bag into boiling water to defrost and dinner can be on the table in minutes.

A closeup of roasted tomato sauce mixed with fresh linguine garnished with fresh basil leaves

Making this sauce reminds me of my 30 Minute Tomato Basil Soup that also uses fresh tomatoes. They are not roasted for the soup, but they could be and would be so good.

A display of fresh basil leaves, pasta and tomatoes viewed from overhead with a bowl of pasta and sauce
Do you remove the skin from roasted tomatoes?

Yes. After they roast and are cool enough to handle, the skin comes off very easily. This gives the sauce a smoother texture and even though the sauce is blended, there are always a few bits of skin that don’t get blended.

If you’ve made this Roasted Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce or have a question, leave it below. I love to hear from my readers.

Yield: 5

Roasted Tomato Sauce

A black bowl filled with fresh tomato sauce

Roma tomatoes are roasted with garlic and onions with fresh basil. This delicious sauce can be used in so many recipes.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds (2 kg) Roma tomatoes
  • 8 ounces (225 grams) 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
  • 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence * see note
  • 10 large fresh basil leaves

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
  2. Arrange the tomatoes and onion on a baking sheet. Drizzle evenly with olive oil, and sprinkle, salt, pepper and herbs de Provence. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes.
  3. 15 minutes before the 40 minutes are up, add the garlic cloves.
  4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  5. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, carefully remove the peel. Remove the peel of the garlic, you should be able to squeeze them.
  6. Add everything to a food processor or blender along with the fresh basil leaves and blend in batches until it is the texture of your liking, smooth or slightly chunky.
  7. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste.
  8. Transfer to a container with lid and refrigerate or transfer to ziptop bags, squeeze out the air and freeze.

Notes

If you can’t find this herb mix, a combination of dried basil, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley




Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 141Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 0mgSodium 277mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 4gSugar 12gProtein 4g

This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.