Need a sauce that’s rich in flavor and can be used in a ton of ways? Try this Creamy Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce. It’s got all the flavor you want from a jarred pasta sauce, without any of the added sugar or preservatives. Plus, it won’t take you all day to make. I promise.
Jarred pasta sauce is certainly convenient, however, I’m more of a DIY, homemade kind of girl when it comes to food and cooking, so instead of always relying on jarred sauce, I like to whip up sauces of my own that are super natural and fresh, taste fabulous, and don’t have any of the preservatives or added sugar that jarred sauces often have.
Did you catch that bit about added sugar in pasta sauce? If you haven’t heard or haven’t looked at the ingredient list for jarred pasta sauce, I’ll tell you that most jarred pasta sauces contain added sugar!
That’s right, the added sugar in these jarred sauces can add up quickly, making what should be a healthy product, not so healthy.
Fortunately, it’s becoming easier to find a jarred pasta sauce that doesn’t have added sugar, but you have to pay close attention to the label and read the ingredient list.
This recipe for Creamy Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce doesn’t have many ingredients and isn’t hard to make. The longest part of the recipe is letting all the vegetables roast, but you don’t have to do a thing during this time.
It uses roasted garlic, which adds so much flavor! You can find my recipe for roasting garlic here.
Besides being super fresh and flavorful, this sauce is quite versatile. It tastes fabulous as a dipping sauce for meats and vegetables. Or, toss it with your favorite gluten free pasta just like you would use purchased pasta sauce.
One other cool thing about this sauce is that it can be served warm or cold. In fact, besides the roasting of the vegetables, there are no directions for heating the sauce in the recipe. It tastes great right out of the blender.
If you do want to serve the sauce warm, just heat it in a saucepan on the stove top or pop it in the microwave.
By the way, this sauce is a GREAT way to use up excess vegetables you may grow in your garden this summer, so tuck the recipe away for late summer when you’re wondering what to do with all those peppers and tomatoes!
Make this sauce, and even freeze it in smaller batches for use throughout the fall and winter.
Creamy Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce How-To Photos:
This Creamy Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce uses just a few fresh ingredients.
Garlic before roasting. See more photos for what roasted garlic looks like here.
Peppers and onion slices before roasting.
Peppers after roasting. Make sure the skins are well charred so they peel easily. They will be stuck to the foil but will release as they cool in the foil packet.
Tomatoes before roasting.
Tomatoes after roasting.
Creamy Roasted Pepper Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- 3 medium red sweet peppers, quartered and seeded
- ½ medium onion, cut into ¼- to ½-inch-thick slices
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons snipped fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Set garlic head on its side on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut about a ½-inch portion off the top part of the head. You should see most of the individual cloves revealed; if not, cut a little more off. Remove the loose papery peels from outside the head but do not take all of the peel off. Set the garlic head, top side up, in a custard cup. Drizzle with ½ teaspoon oil. Cover with foil.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until garlic cloves are just soft when pierced with a sharp knife. Keep the garlic covered in the custard cup. Let stand on a wire rack until cool enough to handle (20 to 30 minutes).
- Meanwhile, line a large baking sheet with foil. Arrange pepper quarters on foil, skin sides up. Arrange onion slices on foil with peppers. Brush onion slices with about 1/2 tablespoon of the oil, making sure to coat tops completely. Roast peppers and onion alongside the garlic for 25 to 30 minutes or until pepper skins are well charred (skin should be at least half covered with large black blisters/bubbles).
- Set pan on wire rack. Remove any outer rings of the onion slices that look overbrowned and dry (you may not see any). Grab the corners of the foil and wrap them up around the peppers and onion, sealing the foil to completely enclose the vegetables. Let the packet cool 20 to 30 minutes or until vegetables are cool enough to handle (don’t skimp on the cooling step – it helps loosen the skin from the peppers!).
- Place tomatoes in a 2-quart baking dish; drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil; toss to coat. Roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until tomatoes are slightly shriveled and starting to brown. (I put the tomatoes on a lower rack in the oven and roast at the same time as the peppers and garlic.)
- When peppers are cool enough to handle, use a small sharp knife to peel off the charred skin; discard skin. It should peel off easily*.
- When garlic is cool enough to handle, hold garlic head on the bottom. Pinch bottom of head with your fingers to squeeze out the individual cloves. You may have to use a sharp knife to remove some of them.
- Transfer garlic cloves to a blender. Add peeled peppers and the onion slices to blender. Add tomatoes and any cooking juices in the pan. Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar, the salt, and black pepper. Cover and blend until very smooth. Add thyme; cover and blend until combined. Taste and add the additional 1 tablespoon vinegar if desired.
- This sauce can be served at room temperature, chilled, or warmed. It tastes great either way. Heating the sauce will mellow out the tang from the vinegar. You can always add a splash more vinegar if you want a bit more zing after it’s heated.
Notes
