Homemade Marinara

I'm taking credit for this one. I've made a few different marinara sauces, sticking strictly to whatever recipe I was using. This recipe I claim as my own is really a mixture of my favorite parts of each recipe.



You will need:

- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 2 to 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (it's up to you, how much do you like garlic?)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 (15 oz, or as close to...) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz, or as close to...) can stewed tomatoes, (open the can and give them a rough chop)
- 1 (15 oz, or as close to...) can tomato sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine (optional I guess, but the flavor is insanely good when used)
- OPTIONAL (1/2 cup green olives, finely chopped, 3 tablespoons capers, drained)--these will go with the flavors of the white wine and add a delicious salty bite to the sauce, but I know not all of you are olive fans. That's ok, more for me!

Directions:
Place stock pot or dutch oven on stove over medium-high heat, and add olive oil. Add in the onions, celery, carrots and garlic, and season with the salt and pepper. Allow the vegetables to saute until soft, about 15 minutes. Add in the tomato products, bay leaves and white wine, and allow to simmer over medium heat for about 45 minutes, until flavors marry and the sauce reduces a bit.
REMOVE BAY LEAVES!!!
Grab your food processor and, depending on how chunky you and your family like your marinara, process ladle fulls of the sauce until smooth, and then add the processed sauce back to your stock pot. Doing this will help thicken the sauce. If you want to process the entire batch of marinara sauce then I recommend bringing out a second pot for the sauce you've already processed.
This sauce is delicious with the sweet potato gnocchi (when made without the capers and olives). It is perfect to use as pizza sauce for your homemade pizzas as well.
I promise you will love this sauce! You can pop it in a jar and give it as a gift to your neighbors. It keeps in the fridge for 7 to 10 days, but you can store some in the freezer if you need to keep it longer.