Roasting your tomato sauce

It is fever pitch time, isn't it ragazzi?  All of us are running around, doing prep work, or advanced cooking,  before THE BIG MEAL  on Thursday (it seems rather unfair that two big ones come so close together doesn't it?)  Now, maybe you have opted out of one or both of them, and that is perfectly reasonable and more than acceptable.  Annalena has found herself, in years gone by, with absolutely no desire to do one or the other (although she cannot remember a year when she didn't do one of them).  This year, she's doing both, and is wondering why.

All that being said, facts are facts, and between now and Thanksgiving, we all have to eat.  Annalena is in the midst of trying to get her "ducks"  (well, actually her chickens, her fish and her pasta), lined up for Mon-Wed for she and the Guyman.  And the pasta on Wednesday, as it is the eve of the big one, needs to be simple.

But good.  And when Annalena saw this recipe, for a tomato sauce that is  ROASTED, she nearly leaped for joy  (her bad knee prevented that, however).  And yes, this is a good recipe for those of you who don't like watching the stove.

Let Annalena be clear:  Marcella Hazan's blissfully simple and clear sauce will never leave Annalena's repertoire.  But being an Italian woman and having only one tomato sauce at her command, will never do.  So, this one:  and it's good ragazzi (would Annalena give you a recipe that wasn't?).

Let's begin.  Simple is what simple does, and in any case, this is easy.  We gather our ingredients:  a can of good quality, whole tomatoes (28 or 35 ounces will work), 8 cloves of garlic (yup, 8), a half stick of butter, and two anchovies that have been preserved in oil.

Even if you do not like anchovies, you should have them in your kitchen.  They add a very wonderful layer of taste to food (the newly popular "unami"  or "meatiness) even in small quantities.  So, ragazzi, don't leave them out.

Now, here's where we begin. Could not be easier.  Break up the tomatoes with  your hands, and dump them into a glass, 9x13 baking dish.  Smash the garlic cloves to get the peels off, and toss those into the tomatoes.  Now, break up the butter into small pieces, and add that, and then add the anchovies. Give it a sprinkle of salt, put it in a preheated, 425 degree oven, and go away for 25 minutes.  Enjoy the wonderful smell of the garlic cooking.  You can't escape it.  And why would you.

After 25 minutes, stir it.  Then go and sit down again, for another fifteen. Take a look.  Does it look thick, almost like a loose jam?  If so, test for readiness by getting something like a potato smasher, a meat tenderizer, or similar, and see if you can break up the cloves of garlic.  If you can, do so... and you're done.

Yes, you really are.  And you have more than enough sauce for four people, if you eat this Italian style, or, according to the recipe, enough for four.  Annalena plans to use it on her pasta and also on a pizza.

She is also told that