A friend of mine asked if I knew of a simple, meatless tomato sauce, and since I hadn’t tried one yet, I relied on one of my favorite cookbooks to find one – Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. I shared the recipe with him within a day (without trying it) and found out: He has the same cookbook!
Brilliant Minds think alike, I say. But that meant I had to try it out…
Tomato Sauce with Onions and Butter
Ingredients
- 28 oz can imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up (I used diced tomatoes)
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
- Salt
Directions
- Put tomatoes in the saucepan along with butter, onion, and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, uncovered, at a slow but steady simmer for 45 minutes. Stir from time to time, mashing any large piece of tomato in the pan with the back of a wooden spoon. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion, then toss with pasta.
Sometimes it’s the simplest things that taste the best. If you can cut an onion in half, peel it, and open a can of really good tomatoes, you’re all set here.
MM and tend to go a little heavier on the sauce for our pasta sometimes, so that’s why the serving size is 4-6. Putting this sauce with homemade noodles is AMAZING, especially when they’re nicely al dente. And if you’re looking to change it up a bit, add meatballs like another friend of mine who did so and loved it! Try it out – it looks plain, but it definitely is not!
