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Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce

This Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce showcases fresh veggies in a simple, yet bold and flavorful pasta sauce. The oven does all the work for you which means you’ll spend just 10 minutes prepping the ingredients for a hearty vegetarian dinner!

White plate with twirled spaghetti tossed in tomato sauce


 

You’ll Love This

  • Our family’s favorite way to enjoy this sauce is over spaghetti, but with its simple ingredient list and bold flavors, this cream sauce lends itself well to all kinds of other dishes including baked fish, grilled chicken, or sliced steak. You can also use it in any of your favorite Italian dishes including lasagna, stuffed shells, or manicotti. It makes a great pizza sauce as well!
  • It’s SO simple, yet SO tasty. You’ll never believe how flavorful this sauce is, even with just a handful of simple ingredients. Roasting the veggies is the best way to bring out all of their flavors and really let each one shine.
  • It requires very little prep time and is pretty much a hands-off recipe. The oven does most of the work in this roasted tomato sauce – you just have to slice the veggies and blend them after they’re roasted. Add a splash of cream and dinner is done!
Large sheet pan with ingredients to make roasted tomato cream sauce

Instructions

Place tomatoes, onions, and garlic cut side up on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the head of garlic into a small piece of tin foil and wrap it tightly, sealing the garlic inside.

Sliced veggies on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper

Roast veggies for 50 minutes.

Roasted tomato onion and garlic on a metal baking sheet

While the veggies are roasting, make the spaghetti.

Cooked spaghetti in a metal strainer with metal tongs

Carefully transfer roasted tomatoes and onions to a blender. Squeeze garlic from its skin and into the blender. Add all the juices from the sheet pan as well. Add fresh basil and blend until smooth.

A blender filled with roasted veggies and fresh basil leaves

Heat in a medium saucepan over medium heat until warmed through. 

Small silver pot with creamy tomato sauce and a wooden spoon

Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.

Small silver pot with roasted tomato sauce with a swirl of heavy cream on top

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Overhead shot of a mason jar with creamy roasted tomato sauce in it

Serve with spaghetti or the noodle of your choice, garnish with Parmesan and enjoy!

Close up shot of twirled spaghetti tossed in tomato sauce

Tips

  • You can use whatever kind of tomatoes you have on hand. We have some San Marzanos that are popping up in the garden right now along with a ton of grape tomatoes, so we used a combination of those along with a couple others from our CSA. I like to remove seeds and guts from the larger tomatoes (San Marzano, Roma, heirloom, beefsteak, etc.) but leave the seeds in the smaller tomatoes (grape or cherry). It’s not a huge deal if you decide to leave the seeds and guts in all your tomatoes – you’ll just end up with a thinner sauce.
  • Don’t forget to wrap the garlic in foil! The layer of foil is going to protect the garlic from burning while it’s roasting with the tomato and onion! You’ll want to use a small piece of foil and fold it up around the garlic, making sure it’s sealed on all sides. A whole head of garlic might seem like a lot, but trust me – it’s not! Roasting the garlic in the tin foil will really mellow out the garlic flavor and brings out a slight sweetness.
  • This recipe makes about 5 cups of sauce and is super easy to double or triple.
  • You can freeze this sauce for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Which means you can have freshly roasted tomato sauce in the middle of winter!
White plate with twirled spaghetti tossed in tomato sauce

Family Favorite Pasta Dishes

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Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

This Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce showcases fresh veggies in a simple, yet bold and flavorful pasta sauce. The oven does all the work for you which means you’ll spend just 10 minutes prepping the ingredients for a hearty vegetarian dinner! 

  • Author: Kylie
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 55 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 5 cups of sauce 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stove Top + Oven
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 lbs. tomatoes, cored, de-seeded and halved
  • 2 small white onion, halved
  • 1 head garlic, halved widthwise
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • small handful fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Kosher salt
  • fresh cracked pepper
  • al dente spaghetti
  • grated Parmesan for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
  2. Place tomatoes, onions, and garlic cut side up on the baking sheet.
  3. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the head of garlic into a small piece of tin foil and wrap it tightly, sealing the garlic inside.
  4. Roast veggies for 50 minutes.
  5. While the veggies are roasting, make the spaghetti.
  6. Carefully transfer roasted tomatoes and onions to a blender. Squeeze garlic from its skin and into the blender. Add all the juices from the sheet pan as well.
  7. Add fresh basil and blend until smooth.
  8. Heat in a medium saucepan over medium heat until warmed through. 
  9. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.
  10. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with spaghetti or the noodle of your choice, garnish with Parmesan and enjoy!

Notes

You can use whatever kind of tomatoes you have on hand. We have some San Marzanos that are popping up in the garden right now along with a ton of grape tomatoes, so we used a combination of those along with a couple others from our CSA. I like to remove seeds and guts from the larger tomatoes (San Marzano, Roma, heirloom, beefsteak, etc.) but leave the seeds in the smaller tomatoes (grape or cherry). It’s not a huge deal if you decide to leave the seeds and guts in all your tomatoes – you’ll just end up with a thinner sauce.

Don’t forget to wrap the garlic in foil! The layer of foil is going to protect the garlic from burning while it’s roasting with the tomato and onion! You’ll want to use a small piece of foil and fold it up around the garlic, making sure it’s sealed on all sides. A whole head of garlic might seem like a lot, but trust me – it’s not! Roasting the garlic in the tin foil will really mellow out the garlic flavor and brings out a slight sweetness.

This recipe makes about 5 cups of sauce and is super easy to double or triple.

You can freeze this sauce for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Which means you can have freshly roasted tomato sauce in the middle of winter!

8 Comments

  1. What kind of veggies could be added to this blend? my husband and I tried this recipe for the first time tonight and loved it. would love to know if it’s possible to sneak veggies in it for our toddler

  2. As with all recipes that I have tried on this blog, this is another great one! I made spaghetti sauce to enjoy now and freeze for the next several months with tomatoes from the framers market. ?. Thanks Kylie!






    1. I think the best part of this recipe is being able to enjoy that fresh tomato flavor even in the middle of a Wisconsin winter! So glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Julia. Thank you for leaving a review – I so appreciate it!!!!

  3. Perfection. I’ve been searching for a fresh tomato sauce recipe all summer and jumped with joy when I saw on Instagram that you were going to be introducing this recipe. I’ll never look at a jar of marinara sauce the same after being spoiled with this sauce. It’s perfectly light and fresh unlike the often harsh jarred sauces. It’s so simple to make as well. I’ve made a double batch and plan on freezing to enjoy during the winter. Can’t wait to keep enjoying it!






    1. Best. Review. Ever. Seriously, Kim, this made my Monday morning! I could not agree more – this is a tomato sauce recipe that everyone needs in their life! I’m planning to use the last of my summer tomatoes to make a double batch as well! Thanks so much for leaving a review, I really appreciate it 🙂

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