A few years ago, I stopped making boiled tomato sauce. Somehow, somewhere along the line we started making tomato sauce on low trays and dishes, in the oven, to slowly caramelize the tomatoes, garlic and basil (and olive oil!) into a delectable sauce that just can’t adequately be described without trying it. There was no turning back.

So this year as I was thinking ahead to what kind of tomato sauce would be safe to make for our family – safe to offer up to our highly allergic lion-cub – I decided to can this oven-roasted sauce into jars for the winter.

One of his allergies is sesame, and most spice companies (including the organic ones) have not stated that they do full wet cleans in between different spice runs on their lines. That means that the spices could be contaminated with sesame. A small deal, but a big deal for a little guy with a big allergy.

Just the incentive I needed.

Here’s how I made the sauce.

Huge lasagna pans (cooking all at once to save on the energy costs) filled with diced Italian tomatoes. No need to peel! Seriously, no need to peel them first. A huge time savings.

And lots of ripped basil leaves, and at least 3 large heads of garlic per large pan, chopped.

A sprinkling of salt and healthy pours of olive oil.

That’s it. Into a 275 degree oven for a few hours.

Then I used a hand immersion blender (you can blend it to your liking – anywhere from extra smooth to quite chunky – we fall somewhere in between).

Oh, tomatoes. Hoping you have a wonderful weekend! I have 2 great natural dyeing colors to show you – fennel and elderberry! Hopefully I will get one of those posted this weekend.

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