Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce

While many varieties of vegan pizza sauce can be easily bought off the supermarket shelves, the satisfaction of making your own version at home is unbeatable 🙂 I personally love cooking/baking with tomatoes, so I make my own sauce whenever time permits. This recipe is inspired by one I read long ago—I don’t remember exactly which one, but that also had non-vegan ingredients, so I don’t feel guilty of not linking to that!

This homemade pizza sauce is absolutely my favorite. It’s rich, thick, garlicky and oh-so-tomatoey! You can play around with the spices and herbs; use fresh ones if you’re able to find even though the sauce is tasty enough with dried ones.

Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes (including baking time)

Yields enough sauce for around 6-8 medium pizzas

Ingredients:

• 9-10 medium red, ripe tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium capsicum, deseeded & quartered
• 6-7 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped into halves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or use any vinegar)
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon pepper powder
• Fresh/dried herbs of choice (basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, etc.) or Italian seasoning
• Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Arrange the halved tomatoes, cut side up + capsicum pieces on a baking tray. Place the chopped garlic on the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 230 C (450 F) for 50 minutes to 1 hour (roasting time depends on how juicy the tomatoes are).
2. Peel the tomatoes and coarsely blend with the capsicum and garlic. Mix in the chilli powder and vinegar.
3. Cook the paste over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes until the sauce is thick and pulpy. Add salt + herbs of choice.

This sauce stays good in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.