presto pasta sauce

When most people think of sauce, they think slow, long...a whole day event. While I love those Sunday cooking afternoon's, sometimes you need something quick and easy for a weekday meal. This recipe is from the king himself, Mario Batali. I love this recipe because it is flavorful and yet simple enough to make after a long day at work.

Basic Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
Two 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
Salt

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over moderate heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Season with salt and serve.

A few changes we made...
We added a lot of chili flakes because we like it spicy!
We used our canned San Marzano tomatoes.
We left the sauce a bit chunky, but you can process it to have a smoother consistency.
We added fresh parsley to the sauce and a dollop of basil pesto to the finished dish.

I love everything Mario Batali (bright orange clogs included) so I may be a bit biased for this recipe. It is homey, simple, and delicious. What more could you want?

Do you have a favorite tomato sauce recipe?