There is nothing unusual about grabbing a couple of cans of tomatoes off the shelf to make a pasta sauce, particularly in the winter when tomatoes are offseason. That’s where this recipe starts. But it quickly veers into uncommonly good territory as these canned tomatoes are roasted. Canned tomatoes are already cooked, so their flavor is somewhat concentrated, but roasting them doubles down on that, further intensifying their umami and imparting a fire-cooked essence. That deep, complex, savoriness anchors this mouthwatering pesto.
