One-Pot Roasted Marinara Sauce

With the change of seasons to fall, get ready for apples, pumpkins and hot meals galore. How about making a roasted marinara sauce in one pot from start to finish, can it get any simpler? Minimal dishes and a sauce that can be turned into an easy meal with the addition of some pasta? Sign me up!

The base of any good marinara sauce depends on the tomatoes. For this sauce I recommend a couple different varieties. To start with, a couple red beefsteaks cut into quarters are a great base due to their high liquid content. Follow this up with some roma or vine tomatoes that have been halved. These tend to be meatier tomatoes and will help fill out the sauce, thickening it after it's been blended. You can get away with only using red beefsteak tomatoes however, the sauce will be a bit thinner. If you go this route and the sauce is too thin, try stirring in a tbsp or two of tomato paste within the last 10 minutes of cooking time.

Mix all the tomatoes in a large dutch-oven or oven safe pot. Throw in some whole cloves of garlic, red onion (white will also work!) and a chili pepper. The spiciness from the red onion and chili pepper work really well together. If you don't have a chili pepper,some dried chili pepper flakes are a great addition instead. I like to pre-dice my onion and hot pepper since the final puree is really just to break up the tomatoes to thicken the sauce not to break down large chunks of onion and hot pepper. Toss everything in some olive oil, salt and pepper and BAM, prep work done!

The filled dutch oven goes in the oven to roast. This marinara is all about that roasted flavor. By cooking everything in the oven at a high temperature not only do you get concentrated tomato flavor but also a bit of sweetness from roasting the tomatoes, garlic, hot pepper and onion. Try to keep the tomato skins facing upwards so that they can darken and crisp up instead of being stewed in the juices. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, throw the basil leaves on top - some will stew with the tomato juices and the ones that rest on top will darken, imparting a charred basil flavor.

When the marinara sauce has finished cooking, all that's left is to give it a couple pulses with a hand blender. 10-15 seconds of pureeing time should work in order to thicken the sauce by breaking up the tomatoes. I prefer to leave the skin on the tomatoes, not only for the texture that the broken up pieces of skin add to the sauce but also for the extra roasted/charred flavor. If you don’t have a hand blender, a food processor or blender will work as well.

The final piece of the puzzle to complete this recipe is a small amount of red wine vinegar. After the cooking is done adding a bit of vinegar will enhance the tomato flavor. It’s a delicate balance adding just enough to enhance the flavour without actually tasting the addition of vinegar. Just a single teaspoon of vinegar will do the trick!

This roasted marinara sauce makes enough for two separate meals. Hello meal prep! Just transfer half the sauce to a large mason jar, seal it and once it's cooled down pop it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to use again, just throw it in the fridge the night before you plan on using it to let it thaw. It can also be sealed in a container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

That does it! One pot from start to finish. This marinara sauce is a perfect dip for breaded cheese sticks, zucchini chips or even focaccia bread. It can also be used as a pizza sauce replacement or for any number of pasta dishes. So get creative and keep this sauce as a back pocket recipe!