[Basic] Tomato Sauce

Sounds strange since I am not Italian, but my mom used to make awesome tomato sauce. Probably I should check out her recipe next time I visit Korea.

Here is the most "basic" tomato sauce recipe. After you make this tomato sauce, you can add whatever flavor you want, as needed: basil, ground beef, cheese... and etc. This is so easy to make and much healthier than store bought tomato sauce which has probably tons of sugar and "unknown" ingredients. I don't even use any salt so that you can adjust your seasoning depending on how you use this sauce.

Ingredients:
+ 1 large onion, cut into 2~3cm size
+ 1 medium size carrot, cut into 2~3cm size
+ vegetable oil
+ 2 cans of whole tomato
+ 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
+ 2 cups of water

[Aromatic ingredients*]
+ a few springs of thyme
+ 10-15 black pepper corns
+ 2 bay leaves
* Tips: Make a small bundle of auromatic ingredients(sachet) with cheese clothes. It is easy to take the aromatic ingredients out from the sauce after cooking.



Procedures:
1. In a big stock pot, sweat onions and carrots with vegetable oil over low-medium heat. After the onions become translucent, raise the heat to medium and cook until the onions achieve golden color. Vegetables will become sweeter the longer they cook. Please take your time and cook your onion and carrots long enough.
Before

After



2. Add your aromatic ingredients (wrapped in cheese clothes), tomatoes, garlics and two cups of water. Simmer in low-medium heat for one hour.


3. Take out the aromatic ingredients sachet, and puree the rest of tomato sauce with a blender.


4. You can store the sauce in jars. I freeze the sauce in ice cube mold. Unmold the sauce and store the frozen tomato sauce cube in an airtight bag. In this way, you can easily thaw the amount you need.