Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

One of the many reasons I love going to Jersey for the summer is Jersey tomatoes. I used to absolutely hate tomatoes but when I changed my diet to be cleaner and healthier I found I started loving foods I once hated. Tomatoes being one of them! Now they are a staple in my daily salads.Almost all store-bought tomato sauces have added sugar. I find this strange because tomatoes are naturally sweet! Next time you’re at the store, look at the ingredients in your tomato sauce! In my tomato sauce recipe I used Unsweetened Fire Cider because it is slightly sweet and will bring out the natural sweetness in the tomatoes.

I cooked the tomatoes for a few reasons. The first was to bring out the flavors. The second was because cooking tomatoes slowly on a low heat allows for better absorption of antioxidant and lysopene. Lysopene helps prevent cell damage and is known to help protect against a lot of forms of cancer and heart disease. Just another reason why I love tomatoes. This sauce would go perfectly with my quinoa crust recipe! I will be combining the two for sure!

The other night I cooked a ton of spaghetti squash and combined it with this sauce. Match made in heaven! I can literally eat this sauce by itself but drowning spaghetti squash in it – never a bad idea! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Recipe: Preheat oven 300/325 (depending on how hot your oven is)

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 2 rome tomatoes cut in half
• 2 medium size onions largely chopped (1 cup cooked)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup basil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Fire Cider
• salt to taste

Optional add in:

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1-2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 2-3 dates

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and non-stick spray place your tomatoes, onion and garlic on the baking sheet
2. cook for 45-50 minutes until garlic is golden brown remove the garlic from the tray
3. Cook the remaining ingredients (tomatoes and onion) for an additional 1 hour a total of 1 hour and 45-50 minutes
4. Once everything is cooled place all your ingredients in a blender including optional add ins and blend until smooth and creamy