Tomato Sauce

Real quick - this is the sauce I made for my ravioli...
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MARINARA SAUCE

• 1 tbs olive oil
• ¾ cup chopped yellow onion (1 medium yellow onion)
• ½ tsp minced garlic (2 cloves garlic)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp dried basil
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 4½ tsp tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• ½ tsp sugar

In a medium, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until onion is soft.
Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and squeeze to break into small pieces. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar to the pot and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally with a heavy wooden spoon.
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I followed this almost exactly (except, as always, I didn't measure any spices, I just dumped stuff in until it tasted right).

Here is what surprised me about this sauce: it tasted almost exactly like my favorite canned spaghetti sauce.It was a little thicker, but extremely comparable. So guess what? Next time I need a plain ol' red sauce for pasta? I'm just going to use a can.

HOWEVER. This recipe could have done what I wanted it to do had I altered it a little bit. I wanted a thinnish, creamy tomato sauce. So, I should have probably left out the paste, which thickened the sauce more than I wanted, and I could have used straight tomato sauce and not even bothered with the crushed tomatoes.

I also added some ground beef to my sauce, seasoned with a little basil and oregano. It was very tasty, and it was the more husband-pleasing choice, but I think next time I'll leave it out and let the ravioli shine more on their own. They got kind of buried under the weight of the sauce.

What I did RIGHT to this recipe was, I added mushrooms (we are huge on mushrooms in my house - always a big hit to add some) and a little heavy cream. Not TOO much, but enough that I ended up with the creamy tomato flavor I was looking for. Just not quite the consistency I wanted. Not this time.

I have a LOT to learn about tomato sauces, y'all. You may be hearing from me again on this subject. Maybe. Or I might just buy cans from here on out.