Homemade Pasta Sauce

Photo courtesy Taste of Home

    It's tomato harvest time here in the Midwest and those little red darlings all seem to pop at once. We've had a few plants give us a small steady supply, but it seems that now they are everywhere. 
   My hubby likes sliced tomatoes, room temperature - tomato soup, not so much. But I have kids that eat pasta like it's a basic food group, so I'm very glad that I found an easy way to make my own sauce. Hubby says, the more meat the better. Go figure.

Homemade Pasta Sauce

2 T. olive oil

3 cups tomatoes, diced fine

1 medium onion, diced fine

5 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/8 cup red cooking wine

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1-8 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp. Italian seasoning - or 1/2 tsp. rosemary and 1 tsp. thyme

 2 T. fresh chopped oregano 

1 T. fresh chopped basil

1 tsp. sugar

Wash, core and seed tomatoes. Dice fine (skin on). Put in large measuring cup or bowl until you get about 3 cups. Dice onion and garlic. 

Heat olive oil in 2 qt. saucepan. Add onions with a sprinkle of salt and cook about 4 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook a couple of minutes more. Stir in cooking wine and Worcestershire sauce, combining well. Add all other ingredients and simmer on low, stirring occasionally for at least an hour.

This is a good base sauce, any combination of cooked meats and veggies may be added for flavor, thickness and substance.

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