TOMATO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

* Extra virgin olive oil
* 2-3 cloves of garlic
* 3 cans (28 oz) of whole plum tomatoes -- I like Trader Joe's or Muir Glen Fire-Roasted
* A handful of fresh basil and fresh parsley
* 1/2 cup - 1 cup of red wine
* Salt / pepper to taste

Sautee 2-3 whole cloves of garlic in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil; when they start to brown, you can remove them from the oil or leave them in for a "garlickier" sauce.  Add the 3 cans of plum tomatoes to the oil that's been flavored with garlic.  Bring to a boil over medium / high heat, stirring to keep the tomatoes from burning.

Simmer plum tomatoes, olive oil and garlic over medium high heat for 10 minutes. Stir, stir, stir.

Once the sauce has started to thicken, crush any remaining whole tomatoes with a potato masher or
the bottom of a wooden / slotted spoon.  Continue simmering over medium heat while squashing the 'maters.  Crushing the tomatoes will temporarily make the sauce a bit soupy.  Simmer for another 15-20 minutes but now over low heat.  The lower heat helps develop the tomatoes natural sweetness.

If desired, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of red wine and increase heat to medium.  The sauce should bubble and steam until most of the wine burns off.  For a lighter sauce, keep simmering but don't add any wine. Depending how "wet" you want your sauce, stir-n-simmer for another 5 minutes.  Adjust for salt and pepper.

Remove the sauce from the heat.   Pour half into a food processor and puree.  (DO NOT BLEND BAY LEAVES). Leave the rest of the sauce unblended in the covered pan.  While the sugo is blending, pour in a steady stream of olive oil -- about a quarter cup in total.  The olive oil will help the sauce to emulsify, adding a creaminess and velvety texture to your final sugo.  If you like your sauce with chunks of tomato, skip this step.  You can also add fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley to the puree.  

Combine the pureed sauce with what's in the pan.   The blended sauce will be much "wetter" than the mixture that you don't blend.  For a thicker sauce, simmer once more over medium heat for 5-10 minutes.  For a thinner sauce (good for serving tons of people), mix together and ladle out as is.