OVEN-ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE!

Used over spaghetti with hot Italian sausage!

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against pasta sauce that comes in a jar, but once in a while we like to make this homemade pasta sauce that I got from a magazine sample that I received in the mail called "Cuisine at Home" (which I was VERY tempted to subscribe to, but didn't because I barely get through the cooking ones that I have!).  It was in there for use as the sauce for pizza, but it's great for a simple yet delicious pasta.  If you have the time to wait for it to roast, totally worth it!

Makes 5 cups; Total time: 50 minutes
(I make about half of this recipe for 3-4 servings of pasta, but you could always save some sauce for another day)

Ingredients:
4 lbs. Roma tomatoes, quartered (8 cups)
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil (if I don't have it, I use dried and it works out okay)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and sugar in a large baking dish.  Toss tomato mixture with olive oil.
3. Roast until tomatoes soften, 35-40 minutes.  Remove from oven and mash with a potato masher, keeping tomatoes a bit chunky.
4. Stir in basil.

This time we threw in some cooked hot Italian sausage to add a little spice and meat, but we've had pasta a couple of times with just the sauce.  We've also tried it on pizza and it's delicious!