Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

It's Utah, it's autumn, and everyone has an abundance of tomatoes. It's nearly impossible to give tomatoes away, so when Mom sent me home with five grocery sacks full of these little babies, it was time to get cooking. This recipe is super easy, but allow some time to simmer - the longer it simmers the yummier it will be. My oldest raved about it being the best spaghetti sauce he's ever tasted. I suspect it would work marvelously in a slow cooker, but I haven't tested that yet. :o)

Olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
18 small roma tomatoes*
1 T. basil (more or less to taste)
1 T. oregano (more or less to taste)
1 t. Real Salt (more or less to taste)
1/2 t. cumin (more or less to taste)
2 bay leaves

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a very large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until starting to brown. Meanwhile, prepare tomatoes.

Cut each tomato in half or quarters, depending on the size. Place tomatoes, all at once, in blender (I hope you have a Blend Tec or similar high powered blender, but if you don't, any blender will work). Use "Whole Juice" cycle if using a Blend Tec, or high speed in a regular blender. Tomatoes should be completely pureed. Once pureed, add all at once to hot pan with onions and garlic.

Add basil, oregano, salt and cumin, stirring to combine. Add bay leaves. It will not be very tasty at this point, and it has kind of a pink hue, but be patient. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium-low heat. Sauce will darken and thicken as it cooks. Cook at least 30 minutes, but longer if you have time, stirring and adding more seasonings as necessary.

Serve over cooked whole wheat pasta or thinly sliced vegetables - I like zucchini from the Spiralizer. Sauce can be made ahead in larger quantities, if desired. I don't usually have fresh herbs on hand (I tend to kill stuff like that), but fresh herbs would be exponentially delicious.

*Note: Feel free to substitute any kind of tomato. My romas were quite small so I had to use more than would be used for supermarket-sized tomatoes. The tomatoes filled a 1 quart blender almost to the top.

Variations: Spaghetti sauce is a great opportunity to sneak in extra veggies that picky eaters don't seem to mind. Thinly dice or slice carrots, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, bell pepper, spinach or pretty much anything else and cook in the sauce until tender. Yum! :o)