Simple family recipe I’ve been using for a while now - thought I’d share it. And yes, it really does include carrots (dual purpose - trinity & hidden vegetables for the kids haha).
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium or ½ large onion, about ½ to 1 cup, chopped
½ to 1 cup chopped celery
½ to 1 cup chopped carrot
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes (real Italian San Marzanos are best)
1 small (6 oz) can tomato paste
¼ cup chopped parsley (or you could use 1 Tablespoon of dried)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
(You can use fresh herbs if you have them.)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
All ingredients can be adjusted to suit your taste.
In large pot, saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Don’t let garlic burn.
Add crushed tomatoes. Run water down sides of can to get all the tomatoey goodness (about ½ cup or so) and pour water into pot. Add tomato paste. Run hot water into can and stir to get all the paste. About half a can or so. Doesn’t really matter how much water you use, you’ll cook the sauce down until it is the consistency you want. Stir sauce to incorporate all the tomato paste.
Add herbs, salt and sugar. Yes, you need the sugar to counteract the acidity.
Simmer over low heat until thickened, at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add seasonings to taste. Remove bay leaf. Blend with immersion blender to hide carrots (optional)