Famous Homemade Tomato Sauce

This is Sweetie Pie and Cupcake's Famous Homemade Tomato Sauce. This sauce takes almost a whole day of chopping, cooking and simmering, but it is well worth the effort. You can make a large batch of sauce and store it for a long period of time. Enjoy this Italian sauce on spaghetti, pizza or with meatballs!

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 3

Total Time 3 30

Servings: 6 people

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian, Southern

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

3 lbs. Fresh Tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil Omit oil if storing a long time, use lemon juice only
1/4 cup Lemon Juice Add more if needed
1 large White onion Diced
4 Bell Peppers Various Colors
8 cloves garlic Minced
1/3 cup Fresh Basil Leaves Chopped
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme Or a sprig of fresh
1 tsp Dried Oregano Or a sprig of fresh
2 Bay Leaves Remove when done
1 tsp Dried Parsley Or a few sprigs of fresh
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Carrot Grate half and add to sauce, use other half to add at end of cooking
1/2 cup Water Add more as needed

Method

Peel and seed tomatoes by cutting an "X" on top of the tomatoes and dropping into boiling water for 10 seconds. Then place them in a bowl of ice water. The skin will peel off.
Pour the olive oil into a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and bell peppers and grated carrots and saute until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute more, until fragrant.
Add tomatoes, chopped basil, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, parsley and salt. Add the 1/2 cup of water and allow the pot to simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours. Stir the ingredients and add spices as needed. During the last 30 minutes or so, add the other half of the carrot whole to absorb acidity.
Add the 1/4 cup of lemon juice (more if desired) once the sauce has cooked down. This helps to preserve the sauce and add flavor. Remove the carrot half, sprigs of herbs and the bay leaves.
Use the sauce fresh or store in the fridge up to a week. Or can according to your canner's instructions. Enjoy!