Cyndy's Marinara Sauce

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large onions, chopped
• 10 cloves garlic
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 10.5 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 10.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh oregano
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp herb de provence or other Italian seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a large sauce pot over medium heat. Add oil to pot, and when hot, add garlic and onions, then saute a few minutes, just until softened. Add tomato paste and cook a minute or two until incorporated. Add remaining ingredients, stir and cook over medium heat, until it starts to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook at least two hours. I cook mine all afternoon, it just gets better the longer it cooks.

I originally got a sauce recipe from my mom, about six years ago, before cooking became such a passion of mine. Since then I have made it so often, and made it my own, that I don't measure anything, I just make it, taste it, add etc. That was actually my biggest challenge entering this was trying to figure out how much I use of everything. My mom said she learned by a true Italian and she doesn't know why mine is so much better.