Roasted Carrot & Garlic Tomato Sauce with Smoked Paprika and Pomegranate Molasses

The recipe itself is pretty much right there in the title right?

Hands-off cooking is my favourite kind of cooking at the moment.  Depth of flavour, rich earthy tastes, little time spent fussing.  There is enough fussing going on over here at the moment.  We don’t really need anymore.

A few years ago I discovered a several pantry items worth investing in, that pretty much make any dish better no matter what. No matter how simple the recipe or how basic your ingredients.  This recipe uses two of those key players, changing it from a decent sauce to one that’s noteworthy (to my tastebuds anyhow); Sweet Spanish Smoked Paprika and Pomegranate Molasses. 

The smoked paprika (on the right) is well, smoky, earthy, with a good kick at the end.  It’s balanced by the sweet, sour, tangy pomegranate molasses (the bottle on the left that looks like it’s been through a natural disaster) .  Combined with the roasted garlic and carrot it’s pretty freaking spectacular.  Pour the sauce over lentils and rice for a super quick vegetarian dinner. Or simmer lamb meatballs in it for a richer, hearty dinner on a cold grey day. Maybe even slather it over a flat bread, topped with feta and olives pop it under the grill for a few. There are plenty of options to work with.

Because we’ve moved on from pesto we are now all about tomato sauce variations.  We’re so predictable.

Roasted Carrot, Garlic and Tomato Sauce with Smoked Paprika and Pomegranate Molasses

Ingredients

8-10 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled but kept whole

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried rosemary

oil to coat

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 – 1 tsp smoked paprika, depending on your heat preference

1-2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Once carrots and garlic are prepped and seasoned with rosemary and salt and pepper, roast them in a 170C/340F oven for 45min – 1 hour or until soft with fragrant garlic.

Remove from oven and add to blender along with 1 tin chopped or whole tomatoes, smoked paprika and pomegranate molasses.  Taste for seasoning and serve according to your hearts desire.