Traditional Italian tomato sauce

Ingredients

• 2 kg of fresh tomatoes, or the same amount of canned tomatoes without added seasoning
• 1 small onion (optional)
• 1 to 3 cloves of garlic
• salt
• 1/4 to 1 small dried chili pepper, or chili flakes
• extra virgin olive oil
• A little fresh lemon juice
• A characteristic of balsamic vinegar
• sugar, or finely grated sweet carrot
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• Chopped parsley, oregano, and one bay leaf

Peel the tomatoes: briefly submerge them in boiling water and then gently rub them with the back of a knife. Remove the seeds and squeeze each tomato to extract the juice, then cut them.

Sauté the chopped onion in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil until it becomes translucent, then add the chopped garlic. Neither the onion nor the garlic should brown.

Add some chopped tomatoes, chopped chili peppers or bell peppers, herbs, sugar or carrots, balsamic vinegar, and tomato paste. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.

Deglaze with the remaining tomatoes, season with salt, and then simmer over low heat.

If needed, add a little more concentrate, but do not thicken the sauce, then adjust the seasoning.

Just before serving, add the parsley, lemon juice, and 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.