14 hour Tomato Sauce Anyone?

Ok peeps. We have all had our moments when we wanted to out do ourselves with making a wonderful tomato sauce from scratch. The problem with that is the management of time. Some people don't have the time to make or keep an eye on a sauce. Well, poo to that excuse! My solution is easy, get yourself an electric roaster. My grandmother for years would rely on her electric roaster especially when slow cooking a large amount of meat. I take it a step further and not only use it for meat (sometimes for tamales too), but use it for making my 14 hour sauce. Normally, I like to make a huge batch, so the following recipe yields a large amount of sauce. I tend to have friends and have a nice little gathering with good food and great peeps.

What to do with the leftovers? Well, sometimes I might not have all the friends over and I have all this leftover sauce. This is why I have plastic containers in which I can store all of that wonderful goodness. I sometimes give them to friends, family or just use a batch for a later date. The sauce freezes well, especially if the containers are sealed tightly.

Always start with the fresh ingredients. Luckily, I have a green finger. My grandmother taught me to take care of plants and most of the time I have been rather good about taking care of the them. We planted some fresh herbs: 2 types of rosemary, basil, chives, and thyme. Also not far from the house is our local farmer's market. Love to get the fresh ingredients there.


15 large basil leaves, chopped
4 sprigs of Thyme, chopped
4 large sprigs of rosemary, chopped
4 large sprigs of oregano, chopped
2 tbsp Salt (use additional salt to taste)
2 tbsp Pepper (use additional pepper to taste)
Stock, either chicken or vegetable
2 large onions, diced
1 large bell pepper, diced
14 roma tomatoes, sliced in half
2 tbsp basil, chopped                  
4 tbsp minced garlic                     
2 large cans of tomato sauce
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 large can tomato puree
3 cups white wine
2 cups water
3 tbsp olive oil (1 1/2 tbsp to be for the roasted veggies)                                 

Remember that this recipe requires you to cook overnight. Do all of the prep work way in advance. The cooking starts usually in the evening say about 9pm.

When working with the fresh veggies, try to get them roasted. Like the previous post (Not from scratch tomato sauce), I love to roast the vegetables because it gives the sauce such a rich flavor.

Toss the veggies with olive oil, salt pepper and half the amount of each herb. Place them in a large baking dish as the juices will drip down and not out. Make sure the oven is in broil this allows the veggies to broil and cook faster. Once you have roasted for at least 10 minutes, take the baking dish out and let cool for about 4 minutes.

While that is roasting, preheat the electric roaster to 250 degrees and add the rest of the oil to it. Add the garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, puree, leftover herbs, white wine and stock. Once the roasted veggies have cooled, puree them. Notice it will be a large batch and add 1/3 cup of water to each batch that is being pureed. Each batch will be added to the mixture in the roaster. Now the fun begins, this will continue to cook throughout the evening, so reduce the temperature to 200. This will cook overnight. The following morning, check on the sauce and taste. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes, I find that it needs more liquid and/or spices. This is all up to your taste level. I have found that certain batches require more garlic or herbs. On other occasions, some additional stock, tomato sauce or a little water might need to be added. If the mixture is too liquidy, increase the temperature. Throughout the day, stir the sauce checking for consistency and taste. Once you have decided that the sauce is ready, then turn the roaster off and enjoy the sauce.

Keep in mind that this recipe was for an electric roaster. I have had mine for about 7 years now. I used to have one before then and it lasted me 4 years. They are normally rather cheap. I purchased mine and it cost me about $25 at Walmart. This has been a great investment especially when my oven isn't large and previous kitchen spaces were small.