Chunky Veggie Pasta Sauce

This sauce is great for the Chicken Parmesan recipe below, manicotti, stuffed shells, lasagna, over pasta, etc. If you're making lasagna, you'll need to make it a double.

Double, triple, sextuple this recipe and freeze!

First, riddle me this: how much time do you have?
1 hour or more: 1 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes in juice. I don't think they make these, so get the 28 ouncer and double the recipe!
30 minutes or less: 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice

After you've met your tomato/time needs, assemble the following:
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced (1 tsp. dried will suffice)

Heat a good amount of olive oil in a medium pan - I don't measure, so if I were a gambling woman, I'd say about 4 tbsp. But I don't gamble. Eyeball it, it's hard to screw this up.

Add the garlic and saute for a quick minute. Don't let it turn dark brown.
Add the onion and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes
Add the carrots and thyme and continue sauteeing for another 2 minutes
Add the tomatoes and the juice from the can. If using whole tomatoes, crush lightly with the back of a fork.

If using whole tomatoes, simmer for an hour or more. If using diced (which I like to do on weeknights), simmer for 15 minutes or more.

Season with black and crushed red pepper. Add a pinch of salt if necessary.