All-Purpose Tomato Sauce

From cookbook Classic Home Cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 fresh tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium white or yellow onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 Tbsp. olive or salad oil
• Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Blend the fresh tomatoes in an electric blender until they are all juice. The skins will disappear. Pour the juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a slow simmer.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan. Slice the cloves of garlic and saute them in the oil until they are golden brown.
   
3. Carefully pour the tomato juice into the garlic mixture. Add the sliced onion, the bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. For spaghetti, simmer slowly for one hour; for vegetable dishes, about 15 minutes. Then add the vegetable of your choice--zucchini, peas, beans, carrots, eggplant--and continue cooking until tender.

Recipe by Alice Fornia, California