I love a sauce made from fresh tomatoes as much as anyone, but in the winter… I refuse to buy tomatoes in the winter as they’re so tasteless and of dubious texture. I grow tomatoes in the summer and would rather do without when they’re like cardboard. But canned tomatoes are of decent quality to me. I have a few different sauce recipes I like, some with paste and some without. I typically use the tomato puree as my kids don’t like a chunky sauce.

1 Tbs olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 30 ounce can tomato puree

1 15 ounce tomato sauce

1 Tbs sugar

1 tsp Italian seasoning mix (this varies depending on the mix you use so taste it!)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup red wine

Heat the oil and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomato puree, sauce, sugar, Italian seasoning, red pepper and wine. Simmer 30 minutes or more over very low heat, stirring now and then.

I use this for spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant Parmesan, and pizza.