Roasted Tomato Sauce

I had a bunch of grape tomatoes and basil left over from pasta salad at the beginning of the grocery week, and felt like I had to use them in some meaningful way. I had also recently been reading about the different "types" of tomato sauce. You can apparently do a slow-cooking sauce (this is the one I usually go with), and everything gets really rich and caramelized. Another option is to do a sauce that cooks for a few hours, and the third is to do a really fresh sauce that only gets cooked for a matter of minutes. Since I was dealing with grape tomatoes, I felt like the best thing to do would be to stay true to their nature and go with a very bright sauce. Whoever posted the anonymous comment about aluminum cans leaching lycopene from tomatoes, this sauce is for you. It uses fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and a bit of garlic. It only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, but pre-roasting the tomatoes keeps it from tasting too "raw". I know a bunch of people who are into the whole raw vegan thing, but this girl likes her food to be pretty cooked. Sure, I love a good salad or crunchy raw vegetables. I even had a raw brownie that I was into once, but when it comes to something like my tomato sauce, I like it to have that kick that only comes with being heated above 105 degrees.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

• 2 c. grape tomatoes
• 1/4 c. fresh basil
• 3 cloves garlic
• nonstick cooking spray

Cut the tomatoes in half. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the tomatoes, cut side up, in the dish. Spray the tops of the tomatoes with spray. Mince the garlic and sprinkle on top.
Broil the tomatoes on high for 5 minutes, or until they start to wilt and get soft. Remove from the oven.
Take half of the tomatoes and puree them in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, mash them with a potato masher.
Pour the blended tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, and basil into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. You may add a few tablespoons of water if the sauce is too thick. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Toss with fresh pasta and serve.