How to make sunday gravy or red sauce

First thing to remember is this is a guide. All flavors should be adjusted to your taste. Make the dish personal and you can call it your own! Now peel 4 cloves of garlic.

I like to smash mine with my mortar. You can smash it with a knife, or just finely chop it up. But please no jarred minced garlic....you gotta put the love in the dish!

This is why I like the mortar, two hits and I'm off to the races! Plus if you've got stress from the week mor your SO is annoying you it's a great relief! Just don't go too crazy!

A better look at how fine to chop it if you go that route.

Throw some olive oil in a pot and turn to medium low. Make sure you get oil under all the garlic or it will burn fast! I like olive oil because it adds wonderful flavor and smells amazing.

Now start with the whole tomatoes.

Then open the tomato sauce and keep it ready by the pot.

Dump both cans whole tomatoes into a bowl, and get ready.....cuz here comes the fun!

You can always just put them in a blender but I'm Italian so I crush them by hand like my Nona did.

Plus it's kinda therapeutic and gives our garlic time to brown a bit. But don't stay away too long!

When you're done crushing the tomatoes they should look like this. Now wasn't it more fun doing it by hand? Just watch out, they'll squirt all over you if you're not careful!

By the time you're done crushing the little red guys into oblivion your garlic should be about ready. You should smell a nice fragrance and it should be barely browning. Just don't burn it!

This is why I keep the sauce nearby. I get distracted every time and need to throw it in at the last second right before the garlic starts to burn. Don't be like me, stay prepared!

Now open the tomato paste and add it in too.

Turn the heat to medium and take that neglected pup outside to play in the snow for about 10 minutes.

When you come back turn the heat to simmer and stir it around a bit. I like to use fresh herbs but dried herbs are good too. They have a bit of a different taste but the quality is just as good!

I've thrown the whole herbs in and now I'm on to the salt and pepper. I like to freshly grind my pepper in the mortar and pestle because I'm a pain the butt. Kosher salt only please, no table salt!

It smells delicious!!!!

Now simmer for about an hour or so. Fish out all the herbs and you're almost ready to go!

Add the salt and pepper to taste. I'd say about one teaspoon of each but you can always do more. If you did it all right it will look like this. If you want the meatballs, check out my other guide!