Directions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, removing the cone from the stem end of the tomatoes. Toss with about 3 TB of olive oil, just enough to coat.

Prepare the garlic bulb — cut off the top of the bulb, drizzle with a little olive oil, and then wrap in aluminum foil.

Put the tomatoes on a non-reactive (not aluminum) baking dish and roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Roast the garlic at the same time. Stir the tomatoes a few times in between to encourage even roasting. The tomatoes are done when the flesh is very soft and the skin separates easily from the flesh.

Heat 3 TB of olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Add the onions and cook over medium until completely soft, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, once the garlic has cooled slightly, remove a couple of cloves of the roasted garlic and roughly chop. (Save the rest of the garlic for garlic butter or other cooking needs.)

Add the tomatoes and garlic to the onions, along with the herbs. Simmer, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and pass the sauce through a food mill. I don’t have a food mill, so I pushed it through a sieve in batches, leaving behind the tomato skins and seeds. Tedious, but worth it. I left about a cup of it in it’s original form so that there was a little chunk in the sauce (read: laziness).

Bring back to the heat gently and season with salt and pepper to taste.