Italian Pasta Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes recipe Homemade Pasta Sauce Prep time 10 mins Cook time 2 hours Total time 2 hours 10 mins Authentic tomato marinara sauce from fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. Cuisine: Italian Serves: 6-8 Ingredients 5 pounds of fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded (to peel, cut a small "x" on the top and drop in to boiling water for 10 seconds and drop in to an ice bath. Skin will easily peel off) ¼ cup olive oil (or tallow) 3 medium onions, diced 8 cloves of fresh garlic (or more to taste), finely minced ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped 1 sprig of fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried) 1 sprig of fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano) 2 bay leaves (remove when done) 2 sprigs of parsley (or 1 tsp dried) 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 carrot (1/2 should be grated and added to sauce, the other half should be added at the end of cooking and then removed) 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions
Pour the olive oil into a large stockpot over medium heat.
Add diced onions, garlic and grated carrots.
Saute for 6-8 minutes or until onions are translucent and tender.
Add tomatoes, chopped basil leaves, oregano, thyme bay leaves, parsley and sea salt.
Simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours or until cooked down and starting to darken.
Add carrot piece for the last 30 minutes to absorb acidity.
Remove sprigs of herbs and piece of carrot.
Optional: Use an immersion blender to puree sauce until smooth (for a thicker sauce, skip this step.
Use fresh or store in the fridge up to 1 week, or can it according to your canner's instructions for tomato products.