chiver's marinara

[chiver78]

red sauce in my family is not an exact thing. this is what I did tonight, and it was outstanding. posting it here is as much for you as it is for me to remember how I made it this time.

3 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes w/basil, onion, oregano
1 6-oz can tomato paste
3 palmfuls (T?) Italian blend seasoning
2 whole bay leaves
1 c really good Italian red wine (I used a nero d'avola)
Salt and pepper, to taste

heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
add onion and garlic, saute for 3 to 5 minutes until the onions begin to shimmer.
add the diced tomatoes, cook until the tomatoes smush when poked.
add the crushed tomatoes and red wine. stir to mix the wine into the tomatoes.
add in the herbs and bay leaves. sprinkle salt and pepper.
lower the heat and continue to simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.
stir occasionally. puree if desired.

fish out the bay leaves before serving.

[lisaflex]

sounds yum. i make almostthe same one except i use white wine!

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

Every so often when I make a batch of tomato sauce, I will take an eggplant, remove the skin, then dice it, and add to the pot.
Towards the end I will run it through a food processor(or blender) to puree it.

[Tennesseer]

Try adding some shredded carrot to sweeten the sauce a bit (and temper the acidity of the tomato). Also add a little lemon juice to lighten the taste of the sauce. Very nice taste.

[Deleted]

SF--What does the eggplant do? Sounds intriguing.

Tennesseer--Good idea. I've always added a little sugar, but carrots would make more sense....

[chiver78]

bob, the eggplant puree would thicken the sauce. I might try that next time, sounds like an excellent idea!

Tenn, I don't like carrots and rarely have 'em in the house. I usually add a tiny bit of sugar, I just forgot that time until I was actually writing it out. oops..