Pasta with Simple Tomato Sauce
I used to think a good Italian tomato sauce involved hours at the stove and a long list of ingredients. Then I made this for the first time, a recipe invented by a famous Italian cookbook author named Marcella Hazan. It was an eye-opener because the sauce was so surprisingly simple, yet flavorful. You don’t even have to bother chopping the onion; just cut it in half and throw it in. Who needs pasta sauce from a jar with a recipe like this?
Ingredients
- One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 large yellow onion, cut in half and peeled
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for salting the pasta cooking water
- 12 ounces rotini, spaghetti, or any other pasta shape
- Parmesan cheese to pass at the table
- Optional additions: 1/2 teaspoon crushed Calabrian chiles in oil, handful fresh chopped basil, fresh cracked pepper, or 1 to 2 smashed anchovies
Instructions
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Empty the can of tomatoes with the juices into a medium pot. Add a few tablespoons water to the can, swirl, and empty any remaining juices to the pot. Use your hands to squeeze the tomatoes so they break up into smaller pieces.
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Add the onion halves, butter, olive oil, and salt. Put the pot on the stove over medium-high heat. When the liquid begins to simmer, set a timer for 40 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the sauce at a simmer.
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When the sauce is almost done, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Drain well.
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Scoop out the onion halves and discard or reserve for another use (see Notes). Taste the sauce and add more salt, if needed.
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Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve, with freshly grated Parmesan to add at the table.
Recipe Notes
You can try repurposing the cooked onion by blending into a pureed soup, adding it to a veggie or chicken broth, blending it with beans, or adding it to a batch of mole.