Tomatoes N Peppers Sauce

#NotYourAverageMarinara

I was going through a I-am-going-to-pickle-the-#$*@-out-of-every-vegetable phase last year and I discovered a recipe to preserve roasted red peppers in olive oil. It was one of the most delicious preserved food I have ever had. It is so simple, yet amazing. This recipe is inspired from the pickled peppers(magic ingredient) and I bet you won’t go back to your average marinara ever again!

Ingredients:

5-6 roma tomatoes, extra ripe
1 yellow onion, large
2-3 red bell peppers
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 bulb of garlic
salt to taste
1/2 tsp crushed mixed or black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
6-7 leaves fresh basil(recommended)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato ketchup(optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder(optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Lightly grease your baking dish with some olive oil. We will drizzle olive oil on the veggies later as well, so you can skip this step if you want.

3. Cut tomatoes and onions in 4-6 pieces each, separate layers of onions.

4. Remove seeds and membrane from the Red Peppers and cut it into pieces, roughly the same size as tomatoes.

5. Remove outer layers of a garlic bulb or separate the cloves but do not peel. The cover will prevent it from burning.

6. Spread the veggies on your baking dish and drizzle generous amount of olive oil on it. Season with salt and pepper.

   

   

7. Bake it for 30-40mins or more until the veggies look like the following picture.

   

   

8. Let it cool in the oven. Peel all the garlic cloves and shift all the contents including the juices to a deep pan. Using an immersion blender, blend it into a paste.

   

9. Move the pan to the stove, set the flame to low-medium and let it come to a simmer. Keep your splutter-guard ready.

10. Add the dried and fresh herbs, sugar, tomato ketchup(if using) and adjust salt. Add a 1/2 tsp of dried basil more if you don’t have fresh basil.

    

    My basil was semi-fresh so I roughly chopped it before adding it. Please use whole leaves, if using fresh basil.

11. Let it simmer for 20mins and do not cover the pan.

12. Your sauce is ready! See notes for storage tips.

Notes:

1. If you’re planning to make pizza, save some roasted garlic cloves for using as a topping for your pizza.

2. I have successfully stored this sauce in my freezer for up to 6months. Portion your sauce and store in freezer-proof air-tight containers.

3. It also survives microwave defrosting, so is very convenient for a fixing a quick weekday meal.

4. Good ratio of tomatoes to peppers is 2:1 for this sauce.

5. Add 1 tbsp sugar more if the tomatoes you’re using are not very ripe.

6. If you’re looking for a good olive oil brand, I swear by this brand.