All-Purpose Marinara Sauce

With my family visiting from Texas I was asked to make some home made pizza and in my opinion one of the two most important things for a pizza is the sauce.  Now this is a basic marinara sauce that I have perfected over the years using some tips and tricks I have learned over the years to give it a nice Italian flavor and a slight sweet taste to it from the onions.  Now you can use this on pizza or as a sauce on pasta should you choose to but in my opinion for a better pasta sauce remove the water and use a can of diced tomatoes with the juice they come packaged in to give it a thinker consistency.  Of course if you do like a thinner sauce then this might be what you are looking for with no alterations to it.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Can (28 ox) Tomato Purée
2. 1 3/4 Cup Water
3. 1 TBSP Dried Parsley
4. 2 TSP Dried Basil
5. 1 TSP Dried Oregano
6. 1/2 TSP Dried Thyme
7. 1/2 TSP Dried Marjoram (Optional)
8. 1/4 TSP Cracked Black Pepper
9. 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
10. 2 TBSP Brown Sugar
11. 2 TBSP Minced Garlic or Garlic Powder
12. 1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar or Lemon Juice
13. 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
14. 1 TBSP Butter
15. Salt to Taste

Directions:

1. In a skillet bring to heat the olive oil.  Once up to temperature add in the onions and allow to Sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft.
   
2. Once onions are done cooking add in the butter and brown sugar then allow the onions to caramelize.
3. Once the onions are caramelized add in the dry ingredients and mix together. if you are using minced garlic add before the dry ingredients and allow to Sauté for a short time before adding in the dry ingredients.
   
4. Once everything is mixed together add the red wine vinegar or lemon juice to the mixture and turn off the heat.
   
5. In a large pot put in the tomato purée, water, and the mixture from the skillet then mix together and allow to simmer on low heat to bring out the flavors.
   
6. Allow the sauce to cook for 15 minutes and then remove from heat and allow to cool.  Once cool transfer to the refrigerator and allow to set for at least 2 hours better to allow it to set for a day to allow the flavors to be drawn out of the sauce.