Tomato Sauce from Karyn Smith

I'm afraid that I haven't cooked much with my tomatoes yet this summer. They are just now getting ripe so we prefer to eat them raw in salads or with buffala mozzarella and basil.  Here's a recipe I make often once I become more blasé about them. 

2½ pounds Roma tomatoes (although I use whatever I have growing in the garden), halved lengthwise

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 thyme or marjoram sprigs

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Put tomatoes in a single layer in a baking pan with the onion and thyme, drizzle the oil over all, and season with salt and pepper.  Bake until they're soft, shriveled, and falling apart, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

3. Remove the thyme branches and purée (I generally use a blender) or pass through a food mill.  Taste for salt and season with pepper. If the sauce is still a little soupy, place it in a saucepan and cook it down to the consistency you like.

Use the sauce over pasta and sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and parmesan.

Makes 3 - 4 cups of sauce.

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone