undercover roasted veggie tomato sauce

Once again, Angela Liddon from ‘Oh She Glows’ has created another delicious and easy plant forward meal. I love roasted vegetables but I had never thought about creating a tomato sauce with them. This recipe is super easy to make - simply roast some veggies and then throw them in a blender with a can of tomatoes. This recipe serves 4 with plenty of leftovers. So you can pop some in your freezer for the next pasta night!

Makes 5.5 cups of sauce

Ingredients

1 medium green or yellow squash (zucchini)

1 medium sweet onion

2 large red bell peppers

2 medium carrots

5 large garlic cloves

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juices

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar - to taste

1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves - finely chopped

Creating the Magic!

Preheat the oven to 425F(220C). Line an extra-large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Chop the zucchini, onion and bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces and slices the carrots crosswise into 1/4 inch thick coins. It’s important that the vegetables are cut to the sizes indicated so that they cook within the time-frame. Place everything on the baking tray. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put the garlic cloves onto a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and then fold the foil to completely cover the garlic. Place the garlic on the baking tray.

Roast the vegetables for around 45 minutes until they are slightly charred around the edges. Remove the garlic after about 20 minutes so that it has softened but it isn’t crispy. Once the garlic is cool, unwrap the foil, remove the garlic and discard the foil. Remove the peel of the garlic.

Once the vegetables are done, remove from the oven and let them cool slightly. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes to a high speed blender along with the cooled vegetables, garlic and tablespoon of olive oil. Blend until smooth. The sauce will be thick. Finally, add the vinegar starting with a little and increasing to taste. If you are serving this sauce immediately, then spoon the sauce over the pasta and garnish with the fresh basil. If you are making the sauce ahead of time, I recommend adding the fresh basil to the blender with the vinegar and blend until it’s smooth and has the desires taste.

Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to a month. Enjoy!