With it being winter and the opportunity to cook with fresh tomatoes is long past, this is the most delicious way to make the best of using store-bought canned tomatoes. This is a variation on my mom’s classic tomato sauce recipe that she has been making forever. It is so delicious. I remember being a kid and sneaking into the kitchen to steal spoonfuls, sometimes I would even ladle some into a small bowl and eat it like soup. There is so much flavor, a hint of spice and it is so easy and inexpensive to make. It had been a very long time since I had made this, so I decided to make a big pot since I had planned on making lasagna with it. Sometimes my mom would cook meatballs and or sausage in with the sauce, that gave it even more flavor.

I decided to use fresh herbs since they looked pretty decent at the market and I buy organic tomatoes. My mom never has, and subsequently I don’t, measure the spices on this. I add to taste. As it simmers, taste it, does it need more italian seasoning? Like a bit more heat? Add more red pepper flakes. You can add a glug of red wine or even a tablespoon or two of sugar if you like your sauce a bit sweeter. You can make a large amount of this and freeze it for later, like I do. I made it for lasagna and froze what we didn’t use.

Tomato Sauce
adapted from my mother’s recipe

2 28oz cans organic tomato puree
1 28 oz can water
1 12oz can organic tomato paste
2 12 oz cans water
1 medium onion (u can peel, pierce and put in whole or chop finely)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 large bunch of fresh basil, roughly chopped
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
Bay leaf

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer 2 – 3 hours. Serve over your favorite pasta, use in lasagna, or allow it to cool and refrigerate or freeze it for later. That’s it, really.