Roasted Tomato Dip

You’ve probably noticed how much more creatively you cook when there is a bounty of garden produce on the kitchen counter. Some of our favorite family dishes came about this way.

Our roasted tomato dipping sauce has such a history. I was garden-sitting for my brother and sister-in-law for a few days. Tomatoes abounded. Having the time and the curiosity, I decided to make oven-roasted tomato sauce for the first time. Roasting a tomato was foreign to me but I felt adventuresome.

Tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, herbs, and olive oil combined in a large roasting pan to cook down into the most tantalizing aroma. Breezes carried the scent through the neighborhood. Everyone within 100 yards had their mouths watering.

I finished up the roasted sauce by pureeing it in the food processor. After pouring the puree into a refrigerator container, I used my finger to chase down the bit of sauce left in the processor bowl. Picture a child licking out a mixer bowl to get the last bit of cookie dough. I thought to myself, “You’re not five years old. You can figure out a more adult way to enjoy this goodness.” That is when the inspiration came for this dipping sauce.

I mixed a couple of tablespoons of sauce with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and pulled out some good bread. That was the beginning of a grand romance. Add some roasted vegetables and a few black olives to the plate with the bread and you have a satisfying light meal. Summer was made for meals like this.

If you make your own roasted tomato sauce, you know how you always have a bit more than the containers will hold. Count it a blessing and make a dipping sauce. Take time to sit and savor it. Congratulate yourself on the stunning flavor and the bounty about to be preserved for the winter.

Roasted Tomato Sauce Dip Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Chopped black olives (optional)
• Sourdough bread, warm on the inside, crispy on the outside (optional)

Roasted Tomato Sauce Dip Steps

1. In a medium bowl mix the tomato sauce and olive oil. You can stir to thoroughly blend the two. They will not remain in suspension without additional stirring, but that is not terribly significant when dipping this sauce with bread.
2. If you have the time and inclination, add chopped black olives. The olives are especially nice if you are making a meal out of this recipe.
3. Pour sauce into small dipping bowls and serve on plates with sliced sourdough.

If you have any dipping sauce leftover, store it in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about a week. When ready to serve again, heat it gently in a small saucepan. Be careful! This will burn easily and must be watched closely.

Consider using this sauce over roasted vegetables. We particularly love it on eggplant rounds. You may also thin the sauce with a bit of bone broth and use it as a tomato gravy on servings of meatloaf or as a sauce for tiny meatballs.