As a child, I always remember the excitement of picking tomatoes from the greenhouse with my Grandad, they were so delicious, and unlike anything I’d tasted from the shops. I’ve grown them successfully a few times since, and would highly recommend it. The British tomato season runs from June to September, and this is a great recipe if you have a glut of home grown tomatoes. However, it works equally well with shop bought tomatoes, roasting them really intensifies the flavour.

I remember Mum making something very similar when we went on holiday to France as a child and the combination of the rich tomato and sweet basil always takes me back there! This roasted tomato sauce is cheap to make, even if you’re using shop bought tomatoes. Do try and get vine tomatoes for more flavour – your local market or Aldi and Lidl have good value punnets. It also freezes really well, so it’s a great one to batch cook and easy to jazz up if you fancy a change. Try adding olives, anchovies and a little chopped chilli for a quick puttanesca sauce, adding to a veggie lasagne or using to top a grilled tuna steak.

Tomatoes are a source of vitamin C and also contain a phytonutrient called lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant which may help protect cells in the body from damage by free radicals. Lycopene becomes more available to the body when tomatoes are cooked and eaten with a source of fat, so this recipe is the ideal source/sauce!

Ingredients

2 punnets of vine tomatoes
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Handful fresh basil

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Half the tomatoes and arrange skin side down in a baking tray. Add the garlic cloves (unpeeled)
• Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil
• Roast for about 30 mins, until the tomatoes are soft and starting to char at bit at the edges
• Finely chop the onion and saute in a big pan with a little olive oil until softened
• Add the roasted tomatoes and squeeze the roast garlic out of the skin into the pan
• Give everything a good squidge and cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes
• Add the basil and vinegar, then blend it all up. I use my stick blender with the soup attachment for minimal splattering!