Homemade Pasta Sauce #1 Recipe

*Make sure you start this no later than midday if you want to freeze, and no later than 2pm if you want to eat:)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (Almost always use unsalted butter when cooking)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 stalks celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and black pepper
10 vine ripened tomatoes
1/4 cup julliened basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste

First, add butter and extra virgin olive oil to a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Then add all vegetables through garlic.  Stir and add a dash of salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 

Meanwhile, grab a large bowl and add ice and water.  Set aside.  Then bring a pot of water to a boil.  Once boiling, add half of the tomatoes and boil for 1 minute.  Remove tomatoes with a strainer and immediately plunge them into the ice bath.  Add remaining tomatoes to the boiling water, let boil for a minute, then add them to the ice bath as well.  Once they are cool enough to handle, remove the tomatoes from the ice bath and peel the skin off.  (this should be very easy).  Squeeze out as much seeds as you can from each tomato and place the tomatoes into a blender.  (discard seeds)  Puree the tomatoes then pour them into the dutch oven with the other vegetables.  Add your basil, italian seasoning, bay leaf, and wine.  Give it a good stir.  Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer sauce for 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, add two tablespoons of pasta sauce.  Cover and let simmer an additional two hours.
DONE!!!  Now, I like to take a hand held blender, put into pot, and puree much of the sauce.  If freezing, let sauce cool then pour into ziploc freezer bags.  Then of course, freeze (bag standing up in freezer, just in case)  If you are making this for dinner, then just add the sauce to whatever meat and pasta you want.  Or leave the meat out if you're going for a vegetarian dinner.  Enjoy!!