My favorite chunky spaghetti sauce

My sister asked me to post this recipe.  She  really dislikes the taste of spaghetti sauce from a jar.  So do I.  This recipe tastes much better, in my opinion, than anything I’ve ever tried from a jar.  But the best part of this recipe is it’s so simple.  It is only six ingredients!  My husband loves when I make this, but he is an Italian.  It used to be that he always made a big tomato sauce for us, but when I came up with this recipe, he handed the job over to me.  He says mine is better than his.

Now, I do not compeltely agree with that.  My husband does a FINE job when he occasionally takes an entire day, and makes a HUGE production out of it.  He will make meatballs, which are OUT OF THIS WORLD, and sauce, and let them simmer all day, and it is truly a labor of love.  But this is a quick sauce.  So, I think this sums it up:  My husband is still the winner around here when it comes to taking your time and making a beautiful tomato sauce with meatballs and/or sausage.  But for a quick sauce, I reluctantly take the prize.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 4-5)

3 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 red  onion, finely chopped (probably about 1/4 cup)

2 T chopped  garlic (about 4 cloves)

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes  (I LOVE Hunt’s Petite Diced, but Del Monte has come out with a very affordable larger diced tomato)

1 4 oz. can tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)

1 tsp. Oregano

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion.  After about 2 minutes, add the garlic.  After about 2 more minutes, stir in the diced tomatoes.  Add the oregano.  Turn down to a simmer, cover, and walk away.  About 20 minutes before you are ready to serve this, add the tomato paste and combine it well.

Now, the longer you can let this simmer, the more the tomatoes will cook down.  If you like it chunky, you can eat it sooner than later.  I like to let it go for two hours if I can.

Also, you can add about 1/2 pound of ground beef if you like.  My husband likes it that way.  What you do is incorporate the olive oil, onion and garlic as described above, and then add the beef and brown it before adding the diced tomatoes.