I've never made from pure scratch like that - but a few times when we've been out of sauce I've made some with tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and sugar/salt - a

I've never made from pure scratch like that - but a few times when we've been out of sauce I've made some with tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and sugar/salt - always tasted amazing. But creating my own paste would feel like a very long winded way of going about the process - esp if as you suggest it really isn't worth it.