Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• Oil to coat bottom of saucepan
• 1 onion, diced
• 4-5 cloves garlic, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp basil (less if fresh)
• 2 tbsp oregano (less if fresh)
• 1 tsp sage (less if fresh)
• 1 tbsp thyme (less if fresh)
• 1 California bay leaf (or 2 Turkish bay leaves)
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
• 12 oz fake meat (you can use real meat but then it wouldn't be vegan)
• 1/2 not-green bell pepper, diced (optional)
• 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomato
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced into 1/8 thick pieces
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup water, plus 1 cup reserved pasta water (see Notes)
• Pasta of choice, prepared (see Notes)

Method

• Add oil to the bottom of medium-to-large saucepan at medium-low heat, then sauté the onions until soft and translucent. (Note: if using real meat, cook along with the onions.)
• Add garlic, then the spices and tomato paste. Mix to avoid burning.
• Add the tomato sauce and fake meat and mix.
• Add the bell pepper and mushrooms if using, the diced tomato, sugar, and the water and pasta water, mix, and cook, covered, at low heat to cook down. A minimum of ~1 hour is suggested, but the longer the sauce simmers, the more developed it will be.
• About 20 minutes before you intend to serve the sauce, remove the lid and continue to cook. Serve with pasta.

Notes

This recipe comes from the one my mom passed down to me, and that probably comes from the one my grandma used for her family when my mom was growing up. According to my mother, they didn't use garlic growing up, the closest they got being garlic powder on garlic bread (Methodists are weird like that). It has been my change to add actual pasta water rather than just 2 cups of plain water, and I am still working through the best way to incorporate the pasta water to it without either letting the pasta sit cold or making the sauce watery. If you aren't fussy, I would recommend cooking the pasta sufficiently in advance to add the pasta water, but if you want your pasta warm, just add the pasta water about 10 minutes before you intend to serve it and let the sauce continue to cook uncovered while you eat.