Roast tomatoes, freeze to save a bit of summer

It's a conundrum.

To describe my roasted tomato freezer sauce without waxing poetic would be an injustice. And yet, to do so risks putting off hesitant cooks instinctively mistrustful of hyperbolic food writers.

So let me just say this: roasting fresh summer tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, some fresh herbs and a fistful of garlic is a brilliant maneuver. Trust me. The tomatoes come out beautifully bronzed on the outside, with a concentrated, tomatoey flavor oozing from their softened innards.

The flavorful melange is a cross between a sauce and a filling. Chunky yet velvety.

I pack each batch into freezer bags and am able to sustain a state of smug gratification for as long as my supply lasts. Usually into April.

There are so many ways to use this special mixture, as a base for a quick pasta sauce, a topping over roasted polenta, omelette and lasagne fillings.

There's a fun and free-wheeling aspect of preparing a batch of roasted vegetables for the freezer. Specific recipes aren't nearly as useful as listening to your inner cook.

For instance, my friend Chris' latest spinoff involves eggplant. She had roasted a lot of it, "which leaves a horrid mess to scrape out of the pan," she said.

"But I decided to roast the tomatoes right away. The juice from the tomatoes worked all that flavorful black stuff up into the tomato sauce."

It added depth and texture to her basic mixture. Sheer genius. Now she's contemplating a roasting of eggplant, tomatoes, carrots and onions.

To peel or not to peel

It's up to you. If you plan to puree the mixture once it's been roasted, don't bother dealing with the tomato peels, because they will disappear once they've been subjected to the blender or food processor. Especially if you're using cherry tomatoes.

Another option is to pluck off the skins from the roasted flesh and pop them into a blender with one or two chunks of roasted tomato. Blend until smooth and then stir this flavorful puree back into the chunks of roasted veggies.

With some of my batches I like to leave the vegetables in large chunks so I have more options for use in the months ahead.

If I don't want pieces of peel in the mix it's easy to simply pluck them out of the sauce after thawing.

These tomato-based roastings are wonderful soup- and stew-starters, so when packaging for the freezer, consider appropriate amounts for such options. The other thing my friend Chris likes to roast and freeze for a soup base is green beans, "with onion slices, garlic, basil or rosemary, and (of course!) Olive oil." She freezes the mix in quart-sized yogurt containers for divine cream soups in winter.

Another wonderful combination is simply a roasting of whole garlic cloves (don't be shy! I use at least 2 cups worth) and tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper of course.

They both get tender and sweet in just about the same amount of time and can be used chunky as they come out of the oven, or pureed into a garlicky-tomatoey seasoner. Fresh herbs, such as basil, rosemary or oregano can also be included, but that will limit uses down the road.

Mushrooms make another great addition, but because they release a lot of moisture during cooking, I like to give them a head start in the oven or on the grill before adding all the other vegetables.

For an extra zip, glug in a bit of balsamic vinegar during roasting.

I like to pack my roasted mixes into quart and gallon-sized recloseable freezer bags because they store nice and flat during freezing and thaw within an hour in a bowl of hot water with a smaller bowl of hot water nestled on top to keep the bag submerged.

For a more frugal and ecologically sound approach, copy my friend Chris and use up your clean yogurt and cottage cheese containers.



Roasted summer tomatoes



2 pounds tomatoes, cored and halved, quartered, or cut into 1-inch cubes (to measure 4 cups)



1 large Walla Walla Sweet onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks



1/2 cup coarsely chopped basil



8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled



1/4 cup olive oil, about



1/2 teaspoon salt, about



1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, about

Prepare the tomatoes as desired. If using cherry tomatoes, simply remove the stems and halve each one. Place the tomatoes in a large roasting pan, jelly roll pan or any baking sheet with sides. Add the onion, basil and garlic.

You can crowd the vegetables together, but don't go beyond a single layer. Drizzle on a bit of olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in a preheated 375- to 450-degree oven until the tomatoes are turning golden.

Depending on your oven temperature, this will take anywhere from 20 minutes to about 90 minutes­, the hotter the oven, the shorter the roasting time.

When done, they will have collapsed and look quite wrinkled.

Alternatively, consider roasting the vegetables over indirect heat on your grill, with the lid on. I have a wood pellet-fed grill (it's called a Traeger and is built in Mount Angel, Ore.), which provides a wonderful smokey flavor to the vegetables.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven or grill and let the vegetables cool. With a metal spatula or wide, flat-sided wooden spatula, stir and scrape the cooled tomatoes to dissolve all the cooked-on bits of food.

Scrape the tomatoes into the work bowl of the food processor and process just until almost completely smooth with a few chunks remaining.

Makes about 3 cups of sauce.

To freeze, ladle the sauce into freezer containers, leaving about 1-inch head space. Let cool completely, then attach lids and freeze.

The Chris Peterson skinned variation: After roasting, pluck all of the darkened skins off the tomato flesh; it comes off easily. Place them in a blender or food processor along with a healthy glug of the liquid from the roasting pan. Blend on high until the skin is a puree. Stir this mixture back into the vegetables before refrigerating or freezing.

The Jan Roberts-Dominguez skinless variation: To remove the tomato skins before roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato. Blanch them in the boiling water for about 30 seconds — just until the skin begins to peel away, then remove with a slotted spoon and run under cold water to cool.

Peel the skins off the tomatoes, then core and cut into halves, quarters or 1-inch chunks, and proceed.

With its silky texture and summery fragrance, this is one of the most pleasurable dishes to make. And it freezes beautifully.

The roasting melds everything together, transforms the flavors and yields juices so delicious they invite dunking with chunks of grilled French bread, the perfect summer appetizer.

Also great served cold as a little salad, as a tasty filling for a sandwich or frittata, or cozied up next to a grilled chicken.



Roasted tomatoes, peppers, corn and capers



1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided



2 pounds ripe summer tomatoes (any combination you're growing would be fine), peeled (see note below)



4 big sweet bell peppers, red, orange, and yellow



1 Walla Walla Sweet onion, peeled, halved and cut into 1-inch chunks



Fresh-cut kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn



12 Nicoise olives, pitted and coarsely chopped



6 flat-leaf parsley sprigs



12 large basil leaves, minced



4 plump garlic cloves, chopped



2 tablespoons capers, rinsed



Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Prepare the tomatoes as desired. If using cherry tomatoes, simply remove the stems and halve each one. Halve or quarter others.

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of the oil in the bottom of a large roasting pan, jelly roll pan or any baking sheet with sides.

Add the tomatoes, peppers, onion, corn, olives, parsley, basil, garlic and capers. You can crowd the vegetables together, but don't go beyond a single layer.

Drizzle on the rest of the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in a preheated 375- to 450-degree oven until the tomatoes are turning golden on their skins.

Depending on your oven temperature, this will take anywhere from 20 minutes to about 90 minutes­, the hotter the oven, the shorter the roasting time.

When done, the tomatoes and peppers will have collapsed and darkened beautifully.

Alternatively, consider roasting the vegetables over indirect heat on your grill, with the lid on. I have a wood pellet-fed grill (it's called a Traeger and is built in Mount Angel, Ore.), which provides a wonderful smokey flavor to the vegetables.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven or grill and let the vegetables cool. With a metal spatula or wide, flat-sided wooden spatula, stir and scrape the cooled mixture to dissolve all of the cooked-on bits of food. Makes a scant 4 cups of roasted vegetable sauce.

To freeze, ladle the sauce into freezer containers, leaving about 1-inch head space. Let cool completely, then attach lids and freeze.

Note on peeling tomatoes: Don't worry about peeling the cherry tomatoes, but the larger ones can be peeled so that you don't have to deal with the peel after roasting. To peel, bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato. Place them in the water just until the skin begins to peel away, about 30 seconds. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice water until cool enough to handle

Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrdproaxis.com.

Note: This column originally ran in September 2005.