Forget herbs, garlic and piles of vegetables – this pasta sauce dubbed one of the world’s best needs just tomatoes, onion and a whole lot of butter.
Marcella Hazan did for Italian cooking what Julia Child did for French in America and one of her most loved recipes is also the simplest.
It’s not just the ingredients list that makes the original ‘viral’ pasta sauce so simple – there’s no real chopping, sautéing or general ‘faffing’ involved.
Although it may feel weird to fling a halved onion into a pan and just leave it there, but it flavours the tomatoes.
It might not be the most traditional recipe you’ve ever read – far from it – but according to Delish, it’s the best red sauce you’ll ever make.
It also takes less than an hour to make and only needs the occasional stir, so forget about hours and hours spent watching the stove.
Marcella’s husband Victor Hazan explained in an interview in 2016 how she had come up with the simple sauce: ‘Marcella was a genius when it came to taste. She had an immediate understanding about how flavor affects a dish. She asked herself, “Why chop an onion? Why sautee? I’m going to put the onion, tomato, and butter together and forget about it”.’
Here’s what you need:
- 800g good, tinned peeled plum tomatoes – get your hands on a tin of San Marzano
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and sliced in half
- 5 tablespoons of butter (yes, really)
- Salt to taste (technically a fourth ingredient if you want to be really pedantic)
Put everything in a large enough pot, set it to simmer over a medium heat and leave it there for 45 minutes uncovered. Give it an occasional stir but don’t worry about pot watching.
When time’s up, chuck out the onion halves and serve the sauce with your pasta or spaghetti of choice.
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