Pantry Friendly Tomato Sauce

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I tend to google "alton brown biscuits" or "alton brown scallops" whenever I want to find a new recipe to try. I find his creations and adaptations to make the most culinary sense to me, though he does occasionally add more salt than I would...
That said, I enjoyed this take on an all around tomato sauce. Mostly. As far as ingredients go I substituted 1/8c sherry plus 1/16c of both red and white wine vinegar for his sherry vinegar, and decreased the sugar to about 3/16c. I cut the red pepper flakes in half after reading reviews, but I really don't think such a cut is necessary unless diners are sensitive. The tomatoes I used were whole, unsalted from Trader Joe's, the wine was white zinfandel, also from TJ's (not a white but a rose, I know, but I tend to prefer it for cooking. Preparation took me about an hour and a half all told, which seems a tad long until I think about the time it takes me to make a sauce with fresh tomatoes. I paired the sauce with spaghetti and am eating it as I type.
My initial reaction when preparing and tasting the sauce itself was how similar it is to a ratatouille. That makes enough sense, as ratatouille, Thomas Keller's recipe "Confit Byaldi" (from a certain Pixar film in particular, is prepared using techniques similar to Alton's. That being the case, my spaghetti was overpowered by this sauce, even when using a very small amount. I think the same would be true on a pizza, unless the pizza itself demanded such strength and complexity (whole wheat crust, tons of jalapenos, pepperoni, etc. I think the best use for this sauce would be on something like a meatball sandwich (thanks anonymous reviewer below! or, with some added breadcrumbs, used in a braciole (an Italian roulade.
In summary-While I have enjoyed this sauce enough to make it again, though with a little less added acid and half the sugar (as many others have pointed out, I would not quality it as an all around tomato sauce.

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Love this sauce. I have tweaked it to my tastes and love it best after it sets for two days. I always double the recipe and feeze the extra.

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We really enjoyed this sauce but it did take a lot of effort to prepare. We used balsamic vinegar for the sherry vinegar and it came out great. We also used about half the amount of sugar.

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This sauce is wonderful on just about everything - pasta, pizza, meatball sandwiches, you name it. It isn't exactly quick to make, but it stores quite nicely and reheats well.

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Wonderful tasting sauce. I just wish that Alton would recommend substitutions for alcohol, as there are a few of us that don't use it - even in cooking.

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I cut the sugar by half and no capers. Watch the amount of red pepper flakes. But this is the best sauce ever, sorry Nonny. I grew up in an Italian family and we have our own homemade sauce recipe, but this one... My five year old son said I had to "decorate" every chicken and spaghetti that way. I also added some diced zucchini to the carrots, onions, and garlic. My non-veggie eating husband never new after it was blended with the stick. Everyone loves my Chicken Parmesan. Alton you are the man!!!

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This sauce is quite good. We ate it with pasta and it makes a tasty, full-bodied sauce. Based on reviews I used half the sugar and red pepper called for, and it was still slightly too sweet but just spicy enough. It would make a great pizza sauce. I will definitely be making this again.

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Capers, carrots, celery, vinegar in tomato sauce? After cooking sauce the same way for years I wanted to try this out. It came out delicious. I only used a little pinch of red pepper flakes because I dont like spicy sauce. I will definitely make it again. The carmelization from broiling really brings out the rich flavor.

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Prefer less sweet

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This sauce is the best basic sauce recipe I have ever made, with a few tweaks. Use 1/4 of the amount of sugar called for, this sauce was WAY too sweet! I left the capers out and only used a few shakes of dried red pepper and half of the vinegar. Added mushrooms and green peppers. I also pureed the sauce. Next time I will quadruple recipe to freeze for a fast & economical family dinner.