Tomato sauce (with fresh tomatoes)

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 250 g, you will need:

• 1 1 kg tomato
• 2 fine (or table) salt
• 3 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 thyme
• 6 6 cloves garlic
• Total weight: 1,180 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
31 min.	1 hour	1 hour 31 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Wash, dry and remove the stalk of 1 kg tomato.
2	Cut into 4 or 8 pieces, depending on size. Sprinkle with fine salt on the side opposite the skin.
3	Pour the quarters into a large bowl, then sprinkle with 6 tablespoons olive oil (approx.). Mix well. Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).
4	In a metal dish, pour 2 tablespoons olive oil, then place a few sprigs of thyme.
5	Place the tomato quarters on top, trying to ensure that the skin side does not touch the bottom of the dish (as in the photo), and that they don't touch too much...
6	...if necessary, have a second course.
7	Once you've emptied the bowl, you'll see that there's still a little oil and tomato juice in it. Don't throw it away, just pour it over the tomatoes in the dish.
8	Place 6 cloves garlic "en chemise" in the dish between the tomatoes.
9	Bake for approx. 1 hour at 180°C (360°F). At the end of this time, the tomatoes should be candied, softened and lightly grilled on the skin side, as shown in the photo.
10	Remove and discard the thyme, but for the garlic cloves it depends on your taste: remove and discard them all, or leave them all or just some. I, for example, keep half, i.e. 3/6. Pour the entire contents of the dish, tomatoes and juice, into the bowl of a blender. If necessary, deglaze the bottom of the dish with the tomato juice or 2 tablespoons of water.
11	Mix it all together...
12	...then strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove all skins and seeds.
13	Your fresh tomato sauce is ready...
14	...store it in a closed jar in the fridge, or freeze it.

Remarks

Now's the time to use tomatoes that are a little ugly, sometimes a little too ripe, but full of flavor. If possible, opt for heirloom varieties, which are always tastier than very red, plump tomatoes.
It's quite important to use a metal pan, and especially not a non-stick one, as you want the tomatoes to caramelize in the bottom of the pan with the long cooking time.
You can also use herbs other than thyme, such as rosemary or oregano.

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