Hearty Tomato Sauce

This is the recipe I use for almost all my tomato based sauces. As it stands, it is a vegetarian tomato sauce. It has enough body to be used alone or it can be added to meat to make a rich meat sauce or as a sauce for meatballs. If you use white wine it will be a bit lighter, if I am using it for a meat based sauce, I will use red wine. To add a bit of richness you can add a tablespoon of butter just before serving.

This makes a fairly large batch for home use. I added some to meatballs, for one meal, the remainder I put in mason jars. I had enough extra to fill a 500 ml bottle and a 750 ml bottle. Once cool, they can be frozen for later use.

1 onion, diced

2 stalks of celery diced

1/2 red pepper

1/2 green pepper

1 carrot, grated, 1 cup more or less

3 cloves garlic

28 oz whole tomatoes

28 oz crushed tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tbsp chili powder

4 oz red wine, (or white wine)

1 tbsp sugar

4 oz frozen spinach

salt to taste

Directions

Sweat the onions, celery, and garlic, add the grated carrot, then both the peppers. Break the whole tomatoes a bit then add. Simmer for a few minutes then add the bay leaves, thyme, oregano, chili powder, and basil. Stir in and bring to a simmer, then add the wine and spinach. Check for salt.