Oronzo's Italian Marinara Sauce

Ingredients
2 bulbs garlic
1 large yellow onion
10+ sweet Italian sausages
4 (28 oz.) cans of whole tomatoes
4 (6 oz) cans of tomato paste
oregano (to taste)
basil (to taste)
parsley (to taste)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
crushed red pepper (to taste)
3 whole bay leaves
1 bottle Merlot red wine
olive oil

Directions
Chop up onion (into large chunks) & garlic, throw in a large stock pot with olive oil & sauté until onion is soft and translucent.

Throw in sweet Italian sausages & cook until juice escapes sausages when pierced with a knife. Remove the sausages & place in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until you're ready to add them later to the simmering sauce.

Add 1 can of whole tomato & 1 can of tomato paste + 1 tomato past can full of water into a blender & blend on pulse for just a few seconds. Pour mixture into stock pot with the onion & garlic. Blend the 2nd can of whole tomatoes & tomato paste (don't forget the tomato paste can full of water), pour into the stock pot, & continue until all cans have been blended & added.

Add about 1/2 to 3/4 bottle of Merlot wine to the pot of sauce. Drink the rest! :)

Add a handful of each (or more or less, according to your tastes) of oregano, basil, & parsley to the pot of sauce. Then add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.

Put the Italian sausages (or pre-cooked meatballs) back into the sauce to simmer.

Put 3 whole bay leaves on the top of the sauce & leave in for flavoring while the sauce is simmering. Be sure to remove all bay leaves before serving.

Let sauce simmer for several hours before serving! Serve over pasta of your choice! Freeze leftovers for later meals.

Note: I realize this is a lot of ingredients and it takes a bit of time to make this sauce but it is SO worth it (it's the recipe from Oronzo's Italian grandmother so you know it has to be good)! You'll get a big stock pot worth of sauce that you can freeze into individual serving sizes to use later for pasta, pizza sauce, etc. This amount of leftover usually lasts our family a good month or so!