Festa al fresco: Roasted tomato sauce

This is my contribution to the table for the festa being hosted by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis of La Mia Cucina. They had an end-of-summer blowout, and they asked that everyone bring a dish containing at least one fresh and local ingredient. Go check out the roundup at both of their sites and see the tantalizing display of fifty-seven dishes that bloggers from around the world brought to the table.

I had a bowl full of several types of tomatoes that I needed to use, and I had recently been drooling over the great posts (don't miss the accompanying recipes) about slow roasting at A Veggie Venture and at Kalyn's Kitchen—well, I got partway there! I found a recipe for a roasted tomato sauce that also included a lot of fresh herbs, and I was sold. It was really wonderful. And so easy. The house smelled delicious, too, which was a bonus. I can only imagine what it will smell like when I roast tomatoes for 9 to 12 hours, which I plan to do soon. But here is the recipe for this simple sauce:

Salsa di Pomodoro Arrostito (Roasted Tomato Sauce)
from 1,000 Italian Recipes, by Michele Scicolone

Author's note: I like to do the roasting ahead of time, then toss the room-temperature sauce with hot pasta such as penne or fusilli. My friend Suzie O'Rourke tells me her favorite way to serve it is as an appetizer slathered on slices of toasted Italian bread.

2 1/2 pounds round, plum, cherry, or grape tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
Salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, parsley, or other herbs

Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Oil a 13 x 9 x 2-inch nonreactive baking pan.

Coarsely chop round or plum tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Cut cherry or grape tomatoes into halves or quarters.

Spread the tomatoes in the pan. Sprinkle with the garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and stir gently.Roast 30 to 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are lightly browned. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and stir in the herbs. Serve hot or at room temperature.I used a combination of round, cherry, and yellow grape tomatoes (thank you Heather and Ming Ming), along with fresh garlic from farmers' market. And I had some tiny, incredibly hot red fresh chili peppers in the fridge, so I finely chopped one of those and used it in place of the crushed red pepper flakes. The herbs I used from my garden were basil, chives, and parsley.

The flavor of this roasted sauce was fresh, and yet rich and deep. It was the best. If I'm really on the ball, I'll make another batch of this and freeze it. It would be such a sweet reminder of summer, later on. I present a small dish only because my photo skills cannot handle much more (or even that!). But for the festa, consider this a huge platter.Thank you, Ivonne and Lis, for having this fabulous party! I am so stuffed after eating all that glorious food, I think I'm going to die. But what a way to go.