Roasted Pepper & Tomato Sauce

Since we've been getting these beautiful peppers from our CSA lately I've been wanting to make a roasted pepper & tomato sauce. Matt & I used to buy one that we used for a pizza sauce that we really liked but I hadn't seen it in the stores here. This sauce is quite chunky with the pieces of roasted pepper. I had all the herbs I need in the garden but if you don't use dried but only 1/2 the called for amount. It would be very good on pizza or pasta & Matt thinks it would be especially good with sausage. I got enough from this batch for 3 pizzas so I'll use some right away & froze the rest for later.


Roasted Pepper & Tomato Sauce

3 peppers (I used one medium red pepper, 1 Italia & 1 sweet yellow & ended up with about 1 1/2 c pepper after roasting)
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded & roughly chopped
2 T tomato paste
1 T red wine vinegar
1/4 t red pepper flakes
2 T fresh basil, minced
1 T fresh oregano, minced
2 T fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
salt & pepper

Roast the peppers over the flame of your gas range or on the grill or in the broiler until black. Put in a covered bowl or brown paper bag to steam for about 15 minutes. Under running water rub off the blackened skin. Seed the peppers & chop them. Set aside.

(I used a basket made for the grill to roast my peppers on the stove.)

In a soup pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions & garlic and cook until the onions are soft & translucent. Add the tomatoes, peppers, tomato paste & herbs. Simmer until the tomatoes break down, you can use your spoon to help this along. Let simmer while stirring from time to time until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Salt & pepper to taste.