Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

Pre-heat an oven to 210 degrees.

Cut the butter into small 1cm cubes. Crush each garlic clove under the flat side of a chef’s knife, then peel and remove the skin off the garlic. Roughly chop the anchovy fillets.

Open and decant the tinned tomatoes into a large baking dish (a lasagna dish works perfectly for this recipe), and use a fork or your hands to roughly crush each tomato. Scatter the garlic, butter, chopped anchovies and red chili flakes evenly over the tomatoes. Season everything generously with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Nestle 3/4 of the bunch of basil into the middle of the dish, making sure that the herbs are submerged under the tomato juices.

Place the tomatoes into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and give everything a good stir, then place the dish back into the oven for another 30 minutes.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and leave them to cool slightly. Once cooled, remove the basil and use a fork to mash everything up into a chunky sauce. Taste the sauce once you have mashed it to your desired consistency and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

This sauce works well with any type or strand of pasta. Simply cook your pasta to al dente, drain the pasta, then toss or stir the sauce into the cooked pasta until everything is evenly combined. Top with Parmesan and the reserved basil leaves.

This sauce is delicious and incredibly concentrated in flavour. We recommend thinning it out slightly by incorporating 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid into the pan as well before tossing.

This sauce will keep for 4-5 days in the fridge, stored in an air-tight container.

But why stop there?

If you want to take your sauce to the next level try adding some minced meat and turn your meal into bolognese. Just lightly brown your choice of minced meat in a lightly oiled pan. Then add the roasted tomato sauce along with some stock, water or wine until the it has loosened slightly and reached your desired consistency. 

What about wine?

In the mood for a white?

For a classic Italian tomato sauce such as this, we recommend pairing it with an Italian white. Something to handle the acidity of the tomatoes, the salty kick of the anchovies, and the lingering heat of the chilies. The 2018 Tellurian Fiano is a lovely little number! Fiano is a beautiful grape normally grown in Southern Italy but has found a home away from home in Victoria. This is one of our favourite white grapes due to its fresh citrus, minerality, and honey melon tones. Available from the Prince of Wales Merewether Bottleshop.

For a cheaper alternative try the 2018 Rocca di Montemassi Calasole Vermintino. Hailing from Italy as well, this wine has a fresh crispness, but also leaves you with a full-ish feel in the mouth. It has citrus fruit, pineapple and a stone quality that compliments this dish brilliantly. 

Or perhaps a red…?

For those red wine lovers out there, again, we look to Italy, and we need look no further than the 2017 Babo Chianti. Made from the famous Sangiovese grape in the Chianti region of Tuscany, this wine has the perfect structure to handle all the richness, acidity and spice of this dish without overpowering it. Available from the Prince of Wales Merewether Bottleshop.

Another go-to red for this pasta sauce is the 2017 Il Villagio Nero D’Avola from Sicily, Italy. Nero D’Avola is a beautifully fruity grape with plum and berry fruits and enough crisp acidity to take on this dish.