Extremely Basic Marinara

Ingredients:

Tomato Paste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic, chopped
Yellow onion, chopped
Water
Salt

1. Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil on medium-low heat until the onion is well-caramelized, stirring every 5-10 minutes. (This takes me about 30-40 minutes.)
2. Sprinkle a bit of salt in, then stir in the tomato paste.
3. Add enough water to blend the tomato paste, then add the rest once you've thoroughly mixed it. (You could add all the water right away, it's just easier to get the tomato paste to blend with less water than it is when it's clumped in a big pot of it.) Your tomato paste can/tube/whatever should give you guidelines on how much to add. Remember that a lot of this is going to cook off.
4. Cover and simmer for 4-5 hours, until it stops tasting like watery tomato paste and starts tasting like delicious sauce. 

So, this is my sicilian grandmother's sauce! When I asked my mother a few years ago what my grandma's recipe was, needless to say I was really surprised. She adds a bit of sugar, but I've found that's not necessary for the keto palate, as the onions are sufficiently sweet on their own.

I've dressed it up by adding spices at the onion-cooking phase, such as thyme, but it's not necessary and really just creates a different flavor (duh). This basic sauce is really quite good on it's own.

Cooking a tomato sauce, from scratch or paste, is always an act of faith. Every time I wonder if this is the time when it's never going to stop tasting like watered down tomatoes, but it always comes together in the end. If your sauce tastes like crap, then it's just not done, yet.

Since we aren't eating pasta, we serve this over spicy italian sausage with mozzarella melted on top.