Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce

I love the rich flavors and complexity of long-simmered tomato sauces, but sometimes I don't have the time. In comes the glorious slow cooker. Fifteen minutes of prep work and six hours of simmering leave you with a delicious sauce that can be used for pasta, Chicken Parmesan or any other dish you might use it in.

If you'd like, you can cool this sauce in the refrigerator and then separate it into bags or containers to freeze. It thaws relatively quickly, and then you have delicious slow-cooked tomato sauce any night of the week.

When using canned tomatoes, I like to add a little bit of sugar. It doesn't sweeten the sauce, but it does cut down on the acidic taste that canned tomatoes can sometimes have. Add in more if you'd like a sweet sauce (but not more than a tablespoon), or leave it out completely.

Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 5 cups chopped tomatoes (or one large and one regular sized can)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• sea salt
• olive oil

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Chop the onion and carrot and add to the pan, along with the oregano, basil, thyme and black pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent and the carrot is softened a little bit, about ten minutes. Pour into a blender, along with the garlic, tomatoes, sugar (if using) and a little bit of salt to taste (watch the salt if you are using canned tomatoes) - not too much! Set to LOW and let cook for four to six hours. Stir and season to taste, if needed.