Momma Marilyn’s Basic Red Sauce (with or without meat)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (1 large yellow onion)
4 cloves garlic chopped or pressed through garlic press
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice (I use my canned pints and cop them in the jar )
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 cup water  (I add water to the sauce cans and swirl around to get the extra sauce out if the can )
1 teaspoon sugar

Heat the olive oil in a 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar to the pot with the onions, and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally with a long-handled wooden spoon. Taste and add more spices add needed... Usually more oregano.
Remove from the heat, and use as needed. You can store this sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Makes a lot of sauce. You can also brown 1 lb of ground beef with the onion/garlic/spice mixture for meat sauce or brown half ground beef and half Italian sausage (as my mother did). I keep some of this frozen and then add meat balls or cook up ground beef and add to it later. You can also add grilled chicken strips on top of the pasta and sauce at serving time.
Make sure you dress it with parmesan cheese!