Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce

            

            An Italian friend, Peter, taught me many years ago the trick of using carrots to slightly sweeten the sauce  and to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes- much better than  adding sugar

1  28 ounce can Italian tomatoes, such as, San Marzano

2 cloves fresh garlic minced

1/4 cup fine chopped onions

2 T olive oil

1 t dried oregano

1 T fine minced parsley

1/3 cup dry red wine

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t fresh ground pepper

1 carrot- washed, peeled trimmed, and cut into 4 chunks

Pour the tomatoes and their liquid into the work bowl of a food processor. Using quick on/off pulses, process the tomatoes just until they are finely chopped. (Longer processing will aerate the tomatoes, turning them pink.)

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a non-reactive saucepan. Saute the onions until translucent- about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, the oregano, and parsley- stir well and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the tomatoes and red wine to the saucepan- along with the carrot and season with salt and pepper. Stir everything. Turn heat to a low simmer and cover the pot and continue cooking on a low simmer for about an hour stirring from time to time.  Remove the carrot chunks before serving. Freezes well.