Welcome to StartCooking.com. I'm Kathy Maister. A good basic tomato sauce is useful in lots of different dishes, as a pasta sauce, as a base for pizza, or dollop over meatloat.

I'm making this with canned diced tomatoes, which are always packed at their freshes and are perfect for making tomato sauce.

An ingredient and equipment list is at the end of this video.

As always, get all the ingredients prepared first before you start cooking.

Begin by peeling one medium onion and then mince it into really small bits.

Peel one carrot, slice it into strips and mince that up as well.

Peel one clove of garlic and mince that too.

Prepare the basil by removing the 10 fresh basil leaves from the stem.

Stack them one on top of the other, roll up the pile into a log and start slicing.

Measure out one tablespoon of tomato paste, four tablespoons of olive oil, and one

teaspoon of sugar. Oh, and one-third cup of dry, red, or white wine, which is of course

optional. Already, let's turn on the stove. In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive

oil over very low heat. Add the garlic and stir it over low heat for about a minute. Add the carrots

and onions and fresh basil. Cook that over low heat, stirring frequently for five to seven

minutes until the vegetables have softened and are lightly colored. Add the canned tomatoes,

tomato paste, and the sugar and give it a good stir. And then add the wine if you're using it.

Bring the pot to a boil, stirring it regularly, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer.

Cook the sauce uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring it occasionally.

Add some salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

For the ingredients you need, an onion, carrot, garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, canned diced tomatoes,

tomato puree, sugar, and red or dry white wine, which is of course optional.

For the equipment you'll need, a cutting board, a knife, a can opener, measuring

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