Ripe in-season tomatoes are key to this luscious sauce, adapted from the acclaimed recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Roasted Tomato Butter Sauce launched my blog 15 years ago. And it’s still remarkable to me. It’s a great way to use an abundance of homegrown or farmers market tomatoes.

Roasting ripe tomatoes in a hot oven lends an irresistible caramelized tomato flavor. It’s cliche to say that roasting concentrates the flavor, but it really does intensify the balance of sweet and savory. A food mill purees the roasted tomatoes into silky-smooth sauce. Finish the sauce simply by simmering with an onion, a generous dose of salt, and a nice bit of butter.

Tossed with your favorite pasta and sprinkled with Parm, the sauce is lush. It’s really all about the tomatoes, but a garnish of fresh basil is perfect. Paired with a side of Italian sausage, it’s one of my favorite meals. And it’s a beloved summertime ritual on par with fried green tomatoes, cheesy tomato bread, and blueberry pancakes.

Every September, I aim to stock the freezer with Roasted Tomato Butter Sauce so we can enjoy the summery sweetness as temperatures fall. Invariably, we eat every last drop before peak color arrives. Fortunately, the original recipe using canned tomatoes is simple and delicious; it’s my go-to red sauce all year long.

Food Mills and More

A food mill is required to achieve a smooth texture. It’s a low-tech kitchen gadget that purees the tomato solids while removing skin and seeds. (See Notes below for more details.) When my food mill broke, I discovered another kitchen tool that works wonders. I started using a family heirloom that I thought was a chinois but is more accurately a China cap.

I’d inherited the device 30 years ago but never used it. It’s a cone shaped metal colander used with a cone shaped wooden pestle to press the food through the strainer. It works so well that I’ve yet to purchase a new food mill. Apparently a chinois differs in that its conical strainer is fine mesh. Good article about the distinction here on The Spruce Eats.

Roasted Tomato Butter Sauce

This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. My version features roasted tomatoes for a hint of caramelized tomato flavor and uses a lighter touch with the butter. It's perfect for homegrown or farm-fresh tomatoes. The only trick is having the right tool – a food mill – to puree, skin, and seed the tomatoes. The result is a silky sauce that is irresistibly savory. This recipe makes enough for 2 pounds of lightly sauced pasta, one to serve immediately and another batch for the freezer. For a quick and easy version using canned tomatoes, try my Tomato Butter Sauce.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Author Margie

Prep Time 20

Total Time 1 50

Servings 16 servings

EQUIPMENT

food mill (or China cap chinois strainer)

Ingredients

4 pounds fresh tomatoes
4 tablespoons ½ stick unsalted butter
½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1 medium onion cut in half from top to bottom
pinch sugar optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425º F. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Arrange tomatoes, cut-side up, on a large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast for about 40 to 50 minutes, until tomatoes are tender and somewhat shrunken; the skins may be charred in spots.
Use a food mill (fitted with disc with smallest holes) to puree the tomatoes, capturing the sauce in a large bowl or sauté pan, removing skin and seeds. Puree in multiple batches as needed. Discard the skin and seeds.
Transfer pureed tomatoes to a sauté pan and set over medium-low heat. Add the butter, onion, and salt to the pan. Bring to a slow simmer. Continue to simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Remove onion, refrigerate and save for another use. Taste the sauce for salt, add more to taste. Add a pinch of sugar if desired.
This recipe makes enough sauce for 2 pounds of lightly sauced pasta. Use half the sauce immediately for 1 pound of pasta; freeze the remaining sauce for another meal.

Notes

Plum tomatoes are meaty and yield a thick sauce. However, any variety of red tomato works. Adjust simmering time to achieve desired thickness.
What’s A Food Mill? A food mill is a low-tech kitchen gadget that grinds fruits and vegetables while removing skin and seeds. A hand crank turns a sloping blade, which pushes the food through the holes of a perforated disc, resulting in a smooth puree. Many food mills come with three interchangeable discs (with small, medium or large holes) so you can vary the thickness of the puree. Food mills are especially useful for making smooth tomato sauce, applesauce, and lump-free mashed potatoes. (Since my food mill broke, I’ve been relying on my vintage China cap chinois strainer to puree roasted tomatoes. It’s fun and it works well! The size of the perforations may allow some seeds through, but that contributes to the flavor.)
If I’ve got a large enough onion, I try to cut it through the root end into 3 pieces, to maximize the amount of the onion that is submerged in the tomato butter sauce as it cooks. Regardless, I turn the onions over once or twice as the sauce cooks, to encourage more even cooking and hopefully more onion flavor in the sauce.
Some versions of this recipe suggest discarding the onion when the sauce is done. But the onion retains mild sweetness and firm texture. I like to dice some of the cooked onion and sprinkle it on the sauced pasta as a garnish. I keep any remaining onion in the refrigerator to use in another dish.
Roasted tomato butter sauce is delicious on its own, but also very adaptable. Garnish with fresh basil for a burst of flavor and color. I like to roast Italian sausages while sauce is cooking for a juicy embellishment without too much more effort. It’s also my go-to sauce for spaghetti with meatballs.