Recipe: Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce

This was a fly by the seat of your pants kind of trial recipe that I created at 10PM the other night while trying to use up some of the ingredients from my CSA box. It was good. It was very good. Our house smelled like an upscale Italian restaurant for the rest of the night. :)

Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
1 head of garlic
3 large heirloom tomatoes (or whatever you have)
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 small palmful of Italian Seasoning blend
salt
water as needed
2 tablespoons(ish) of sugar

Drizzle the garlic head with a little olive oil (try to get it in the cracks) and roast at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes (or until your house smells absolutely wonderful and the cloves are soft when pressed).

Meanwhile, roughly chopped the tomatoes, add them to a large pot and sprinkle with salt (1-2 tsp maybe). Bring to simmer over medium heat, cover and allow the tomatoes to soften. Add the tomato paste, sauce and seasonings and mash it all together. If it's too thick, you can add some water. When the garlic is done and cooled off slightly, peel it and mash it into the tomato sauce. Cover, turn to low and allow to simmer gently as long as you want. Sprinkle with sugar and enjoy.

Why sugar? Sugar helps to tone down the acidity of the tomato a little. I'm not a big fan of "in your face" tomato sauce. I like it a little mellower and the sugar helps. Plus, roasted garlic has a bit of a sweet hint to it as well. It may just be me, but I'm betting this sauce is better with age so I put it right into the fridge and let the flavors party together over night. Of course, I put it into the freezer, but my husband tried it first and declared it his second favorite sauce... next to Vodka Tomato Sauce. :)

Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday and Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Parade for other great recipes!