Grandma Helen's Red Pasta Sauce

My Grandma Helen always made homemade red pasta sauce. I never ate jar sauce as a kid and to this day I don't eat it. When you grow up eating homemade pasta sauce, you just can't eat anything else. A few years ago, Grandma and I made the sauce together and for the first time, I learned her recipe. The only catch in learning the recipe - my Grandma doesn't cook by measurements, it's all memory and taste. This required me to adapt the recipe a bit on my own. Matt likes a little kick to his sauce, so I added more red pepper flakes than Grandma did. Recently, Grandma had surgery, so I made a lot of homemade goodies to keep her freezer stocked. It was the first time she ate my red pasta sauce. She called and gave me rave reviews and asked me to share my recipe with her. She is truly the inspiration for this recipe, so to me it will always be Grandma Helen's Red Pasta Sauce. Enjoy!

2 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves of minced garlic
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 – 28 oz. cans tomato puree
1 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 whole white onion
1 cup chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt
1 large bay leaf

Add olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to bottom of large pot. Let garlic and pepper infuse the olive oil for a few minutes.
Add the tomato puree and crushed tomatoes.
Add chicken broth to empty tomato puree can, fill can with water, add tomato paste; add mixture to sauce.
Add whole, peeled onion to center of pot.
Stir in sugar and salt; add bay leaf.
Simmer on low for 2 – 3 hours.

Once sauce is done, remove onion and bay leaf.

Want a hearty meat sauce for lasanga or baked ziti? Add 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of ground sweet Italian sausage to the garlic and red pepper infused olive oil. Brown the meat and the follow the rest of the directions for the sauce. Having the cooked meat simmer in the sauce gives it a great flavor for your favorite baked pasta dishes.