My Italian red sauce.

You may call this marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, dipping sauce.... I think you get the picture.  Making your own homemade sauce is so very easy and tastes so much better than a jarred sauce that is usually filled with ingredients none of us need.  So, if you have never made your own sauce before take a leap, make a batch and then  freeze some for future use.

Let me also add that I usually make this at the beginning of the week and have some in the fridge ready for pasta on Italian Night or pizza on Pizza Night and so on.

These are the items that you will need.

Olive oil
2 medium onions or 4 small
4 garlic cloves
1- 6oz can tomato paste
2- 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
Red Wine
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried parsley
2 bay leaves
pinch of thyme
crushed red pepper (optional)
salt
pepper

I like to use "No Salt Added" products whenever I can so that I can control the amount of salt that I eat.
Also, I really love the flavor of San Marzano tomatoes.  They are tomatoes that are grown very close to Naples, Italy and really have a great flavor.  However, if you can't find them or if you would rather not spend the extra money, any crushed tomato would be ok.

Go ahead and open the cans, chop the onions, mince the garlic and open your wine.  (Please do not use cooking wine.  Pick a wine that you would drink, however, if you do not drink wine you can buy some of these small bottles and use them for cooking.)  Once you start this sauce you will need to have everything ready.

Cover the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven with olive oil and then add your onions.  Season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until the onions become translucent.

Once your onions are tender add the minced garlic.  *If you would like your sauce a bit spicy go ahead and add some crushed red pepper now.

Cook the garlic for a couple of minutes and then add the tomato paste.  Mix thoroughly and heat through.

Next add your dried seasonings and stir until combined. OH!  I totally forgot to add the bay leaves, but please add them.  I guess that is what happens when the recipe is in my head and not on paper~I forget something!

Here's the yummy part!  Add just enough wine to thin out the tomato paste mixture and stir until combined.  Keep adding wine until you are happy with the consistency.

This is about how much wine I added.  Doesn't this look yummy??

Now it's time for those crushed tomatoes.

Stir everything together and then add more salt.  Taste and re-season to fit your personal taste.

Lower the heat and simmer (see the tiny bubbles?) for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to a few hours.  At this point it is ready to be served, put in the refrigerator or this freezes up beautifully!  This will make about 9 cups of sauce or the equivalent to 3 jars of sauce.  Enjoy!