Basic Marinara Sauce

I put this together for a friend, figured I'd also post it here since I haven't post anything in months.

Basic Marinara Sauce
I start with canned tomatoes. You can use fresh ones, but you end up going through the same process as canning them (blanching, peeling, cooking, etc.) This is just the basic sauce, you can make variations on it according to taste. It’s also the amounts I normally use, which will make 2 quarts or so.
Ingredients:
6 large cans of tomatoes. NOT paste, NOT sauce. I usually use 4 cans of whole tomatoes (or crushed) and 2 cans of puree. If using whole tomatoes, I squish them as I add to the pot, giving a chunky sauce. Sometimes, I’ll use 2 cans each of puree, crushed and whole.
4-5 cloves of garlic, pressed.
Basil, Oregano, Parsley
Black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
Carrots (you’ll see why)
Medium Onion, finely chopped (if no allergies or dislikes)
Cinnamon (my secret weapon)
Bay leaf

In a big pot, sauté onion and garlic in a little olive oil (about 1T) until tender and fragrant. Add tomatoes and start bringing to a low boil. Don’t heat too quickly, or it’ll burn. Add a palmful each of the herbs. If using fresh herbs, chop very finely and use 2-3 times the amount. Add a pinch of salt, a few dashes of black pepper, and keep stirring. Toss in a bay leaf or two. When it starts to bubble, cover and lower heat to simmer.
Cut carrots into big pieces. Toss them in. The carrots will release their sugars and soak up some of the acid from the tomatoes. If you want to get more veggies into the kids, finely shred the carrots and leave them in the sauce. If doing this, you’ll still want a couple of larger chunks to fish out after cooking, taking a bunch of the acid with them.
Add a dash of cinnamon. Not a lot, you don’t want to taste it. It’s simply to counteract the acid.
Let this simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.
Sauce will thicken as the water evaporates. Taste it after a couple of hours and adjust to taste. You can add a pinch or two of sugar if it’s too acidic or you want more sweetness than the carrots release. Make sure you take out the bay leaves and carrot chunks before using the sauce. You can let it simmer for as long as you want, really. Mine usually sits for at least 4 hours before I use it, if not more.

Variations:
I do the following, depending on my mood and what I’ll use the sauce for.
Add red wine (or marsala if I don’t have red). Not a lot, and add this after it’s simmered for a few hours. Let simmer at least another hour to burn off the alcohol.
Roast the garlic instead of sautéing.
Add parmesan or romano cheese. Do this toward the end of the cooking.
Red pepper flakes will give a spicier sauce.

If you like mushrooms, peppers, olives, etc. in your sauce, sauté and add them with the tomatoes. I don’t usually do so until I’m ready to actually use the sauce. Same goes for meat. I don’t add meat until I’m using the sauce for a recipe.