Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion

It was really hard to make any other type of tomato sauce after I made this one because it’s easily one of the best sauces I’ve ever tasted. It’s so tomato-y and rich and with requires very little effort. This is a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks “Genius Recipes”. It’s filled with recipes by various chefs that are all super simple but have depth and complexity, and it but it doesn’t feel like you’re taking shortcuts. Marcella Hazan, author of “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”, is the genius behind this tomato sauce. Throw it all in the pot and let it very slowly simmer away and that’s literally all you need to do!

I adapted this recipe by doubling the original (I like more sauce on my pasta) and adjusting some of the quantities. I also use canned tomatoes because I have commitment issues when it comes to fresh tomatoes, and they always end up over ripe on my counter :/ I also didn’t fully double the butter because it’s already a lot of butter. But other than that it’s the same!

Resource: Genius Recipes: by Marcella Hazan

Adapted by Tierney Larson

Ingredients:

1 28oz can of San Marzano Whole Peeled Tomatoes, chopped up along with their juices

1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved

Kosher Salt

1/2 lb any pasta you wish

That’s it!

Put all of the ingredients, along with a good pinch of kosher salt, into a medium sized pot and bring to a simmer, reduce to heat to very low and keep it at a low and steady simmer for about 45 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. It should get nice and think and taste rich and tomatoey.

Toss with 1/2 lb of cooked pasta OR if you want to make meatballs, remove the onions after the 45min (to make space) and place the meatballs in letting them slowly simmer away until they’re cooked through.