Giada's Marinara Sauce

Before I get to the recipe, I just wanted you all to know I have hopped on board and Macaroni and Cheesecake is now on Facebook. I would love for you to like my page here. I will not only be posting my updates there, but also sharing old favorites and hopefully communicating more with you all. I hope it's a place where we can share recipes, foodie tips and menus with one another.

Now that business is taken care of, onto the recipe. I have been wanting to try a marinara sauce that uses carrots for a while and since I had carrots to use up, this was a great opportunity. I was making the Chicken Parmesan again and I wanted to use a homemade sauce this time. This sauce was perfect! You can choose to leave it a bit chunky or you can puree it. I pureed it this time since I was using it for the chicken parm, but think it would be great either way. Great flavors and really not that hard to make. I halved the recipe but I'm listing the full recipe below. I think I will make the full recipe next time and then just freeze the leftovers.

Giada's Marinara Sauce

Source: Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network
Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves, or 1/2 tsp. dried chopped bay leaf

Directions:

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic & saute until onions are translucent, approximately 10 min. Add celery, carrots, and salt & pepper. Saute about 10 minutes more, until all vegetables are soft. Pour in the tomatoes and bay leaf and simmer uncovered over low heat until sauce thickens, approximately 1 hour.

If using whole bay leaf, discard at this time. Taste and season with more salt & pepper if necessary. If desired, transfer sauce to blender or food processor to puree or leave chunky. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. Can prepare ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.