My Tomato Sauce

Anywhere between 5 and 10 cloves of garlic depending on how garlicy you feel Lots of tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, diced onions, and garlic. This fresh baby basil was from my garden! I sometimes buy already crushed tomatoes, but they can be a little more bitter because the seeds get crushed up too! When I want to go all the way, I break up the whole tomatoes with my hands. Go ahead and mix the chopped basil right into the tomatoes. My mom cooks the beef in with the onions when she is building the sauce. I no longer do this, I cook the beef ahead of time and add it later. This helps the other flavors develop more richness and complexity while they are sautéing in the pan. Most importantly the onions and the tomato paste. Don't drain off the fat from the beef, add it right into the sauce. Sometimes there will be a ton of fat and in that case you can get rid of some of it. This confusing picture is the order that things go into the pot. Don't burn the garlic! Only cook it for 1 minute before adding the paste. Look at that beautiful color! When I first realized that you should saute the tomato paste when making sauce was when I first took it to the next level. Add the beef after 5 minutes. Then the crushed tomatoes. I used fresh oregano that day (also from my garden) 4 out of 5 times I use dried. There is a little controversy about the balsamic in this recipe. Frankly I use a splash of vinegar in my sauce when I don't have red wine around, and I usually don't have red wine around, so it usually gets the vinegar. If I have wine, I add a cup or so instead of the vinegar.