4StarTomSauce

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a large jelly roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet with olive oil and line the pan with release, no-stick aluminum foil, dull side up. Coat the foil with a thin film of olive oil. Cut tomatoes in half, remove the cores and place cut side down on the pan. Add onion slices and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a splash of oil and bake for about 90 minutes or until the tomatoes have released their juice and the juice has concentrated to a thick liquid. Set aside to cool.

Heat the 2 TB butter and olive oil in a 6 qt pot and add the onions, celery and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and slowly sweat without browning until the onions are translucent. Add the herbs and the tomato paste and slowly cook until the paste is a medium brown. Add the garlic and the flour and stir smooth and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and stir until smooth.

Remove the skins from the tomatoes and place in a food processor, along with the onion slices and any pan juices. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and blend until fairly smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot along with the bay leaf and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on low. Correct for salt and pepper. Just before serving, add half and half and heat. Serve over hot pasta and garnish with julienned basil and fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.


		4 Star Creamy Roasted Tomato Sauce
A mid-winter tomato is not a wondrous thing. It’s a mere reminder, an IOU maybe, of the fruit we’ll have in September. But, thanks to a generous neighbor, I had a dozen ripe Roma tomatoes on my kitchen counter that were sitting there calling for some alchemy to turn them into something wonderful. I remember last fall when all the foodies were waxing euphoric about the fabulous flavor that tomatoes had if the liquid were evaporated and the resulting flesh lovingly treated and I decided to experiment. The food columns last fall were raving about the flavor of fire-roasted tomatoes spun into sauces or folded into chutneys, the flesh having been reduced to a syrupy essence. The following pasta sauce has more flavor than I thought was possible. It is easily as good as any sauce I’ve had at fancy big-city restaurants. This is not a “whip it up at the last minute” dish. It takes about as long to make as it does to do three loads of laundry, so next time the laundry bin is full, make this your side job and your Saturday dinner will be something really special. The recipe makes a scant three quarts: enough for dinner and some for the freezer.			12 large, ripe Roma tomatoes (about 3 ½ pounds) 1 medium onion sliced into 3 or 4 large slices olive oil 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 medium onion, finely diced 2 large stalks celery, finely diced 2 TB butter 2 TB olive oil 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried basil 3 TB tomato paste 1/2 tsp minced garlic 2 TB all-purpose flour 32 oz box low-sodium chicken broth 1/3 cup julienned oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained 1 bay leaf 2 cups half and half fresh basil leaves, rolled and julienned for garnish Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese Four cheese ravioli, tortellini or pasta of your choice, cooked Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a large jelly roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet with olive oil and line the pan with release, no-stick aluminum foil, dull side up. Coat the foil with a thin film of olive oil. Cut tomatoes in half, remove the cores and place cut side down on the pan. Add onion slices and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a splash of oil and bake for about 90 minutes or until the tomatoes have released their juice and the juice has concentrated to a thick liquid. Set aside to cool. Heat the 2 TB butter and olive oil in a 6 qt pot and add the onions, celery and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and slowly sweat without browning until the onions are translucent. Add the herbs and the tomato paste and slowly cook until the paste is a medium brown. Add the garlic and the flour and stir smooth and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and stir until smooth. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and place in a food processor, along with the onion slices and any pan juices. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and blend until fairly smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot along with the bay leaf and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on low. Correct for salt and pepper. Just before serving, add half and half and heat. Serve over hot pasta and garnish with julienned basil and fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
	Courtesy of: Real Estate & Living www.somocorealestate.com