Back Pocket Tomato Sauce

A good tomato sauce recipe is something you need to have in your back pocket. It's like the little black dress of sauces that becomes your go to. It's something I'll whip up in a pinch. Everyone loves it and it's very comforting. It's also a multi-functional sauce to use as a base for pizza, baked pasta's, dips, or just to use on top of spaghetti. It's a meatless sauce which is easier on the wallet. If you're interested in meal prepping, it tastes great throughout the week, sauce is one of those things that tends to not taste old when it's re-heated. Just looking at this pic makes me crave it now. There's just something about tomato, basil, and mozzarella together that is magical. Hope you love it like we do. 

Ingredients:

• Your favorite pasta cooked al dente per the packages directions
• 2 (28 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes. 
• 1/2 stick (4 T) of salted butter
• 4-6 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (2 T if dried, but fresh is honestly a game changer)
• 2 finely chopped shallots 
• A possible splash of red wine, think 3 T (If you so happen to be drinking a glass.)
• 2 T brown sugar or honey
• 1 T sea salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Directions: 

1.  In a larger skillet or a saucepan, turn heat to a medium temperature. 
2. Add in the butter, garlic, and shallots at the same time. Then they can heat up together longer and not just immediately over cook. 
3. Stir butter, garlic, and shallots frequently making sure to carefully scrape up the bits from the bottom and get a golden color to the garlic and shallots. It shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes.  You don't want to burn the garlic. 
4. *If you're adding in the wine, now is the time before the tomatoes. Slowly stir it into the garlic and shallots again scraping up the good parts from the bottom of the pan. 
5. Let wine simmer for only a minute.
6. Slowly, add in the 2 cans of tomatoes to the pan. Stir everything together. 
7. Cover the tomatoes and let simmer for about 4 minutes left alone. 
8. Carefully, remove lid and stir contents of pan. It does spit, so beware. 
9. Add in fresh basil, brown sugar, salt, and oregano. 
10. Stir everything together and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
11. Once the tomatoes seem to have cooked down a little and appear sauce like, it should be done. You can allow it to simmer longer, you just might need to add in a little water if simmering for a long time. 
12. Pull off heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

*Serve over pasta with a little fresh grated mozzarella and some fresh torn basil leaves for a garnish.