Homemade Tomato Sauce

I have been making a TON of this sauce and have stocked our freezer with it for some delicious post-having a baby Italian meals. Sorry that I don't have a real picture of the beautiful sauce, just a picture of the canned tomatos I used. I have used this sauce to make lasagna, chicken parmesan (tonight), baked stuffed shells, baked ravioli, and spagetti (with or without added lean ground beef). It is bursting with flavor and nutrients yet low sodium. We used to always use the pre-made sauces, but this suits our health and taste-buds much better. As another variation to try you could add more different veggies at the end, or serve the sauce over some prepared veggies such as eggplant and zucchini.

Modified from "The Silver Palate" Cookbook "Quick Tomato Sauce" Recipe

Heat oil and add onion, carrots and celery. Cook over low heat covered for about 25 min or until tender:
3/4 cup olive oil
1 lb carrots, peeled and finely chopped
7 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
6 large stalks celary

Add the following and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 30 min:
4 cans (28 oz each) Italian plum tomatos in tomato puree (no salt or other additives)
2 tabs dried basil
2 tsps dried thyme
Dash Cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves

Remove bay leaves and purree the mixture. Then add :
1 lb mushrooms

Cook for 10 min, then add:
2 cups fresh Italian flat leaf parsley finely chopped
1 bulb garlic
1 Tab balsamic vinegar
1 Tab red wine vinegar

Cook for 5 min and serve immediately, refrigerate or freeze.