I've never been much of a tomato fan (including ketchup), but I LOVE this sauce. It's fairly quick and quite easy, and I love that it's nothing but fresh ingredients - no sugar, corn syrup, or preservatives.
Note - My family loves spicy food. This is fairly spicy. If you want less spicy, reduce or eliminate the red pepper flakes.
32 oz cherry tomatoes
1 medium shallot, diced
1 whole garlic bulb
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
S&P to taste
In a shallow glass baking dish, spread tomatoes and chopped shallot. Cut the top off the garlic bulb, place in a ramekin in a corner of the glass baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes and garlic.
Mix together the red pepper, oregano, and thyme and sprinkle over the tomatoes. Bake at 400 F for 30-35 minutes or until tomatoes look toasted and soggy. (I've gone as long as 40-45 minutes because I got distracted - it actually turned out a thicker sauce, which I liked.)
Put tomatoes into a food processor or blender, or use a bowl and stick blender. Squeeze garlic out of the skin and into the blender. Add fresh basil, cream, and parm, blend for a minute or so, and serve.
Serving suggestions:
- As a tomato base on homemade pizza
- cover meatballs with sauce and sprinkle cheese on top, heat to melt the cheese
- baked chicken tenders or battered chicken fritters, spread sauce on top, sprinkle parm cheese on top.
- on top of any kind of pasta. YUM!