Here’s the thing. If you’ve always had jarred spaghetti sauce, there’s a good chance you think it’s pretty darn good. I grew up thinking all sauce came from a jar – both of my parents worked, so no one was simmering homemade spaghetti sauce for hours between getting home and putting kids in the bath, and I don’t blame them.
I will say that the first time I tasted homemade sauce, I knew I could never go back to just dumping out a jar. I have been known to “doctor” a jarred sauce, but never to just dump it and go.
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This pasta sauce, which is hailed by many as the “World’s Best,” may be a perfect compromise – it’s homemade, it’s delicious, and it’s pretty easy to make, too! Magic!
The recipe is courtesy of Marcella Hazan, a woman who introduced many of us to Italian cooking with her cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Her pasta sauce is one of her most famous and most tried – it requires only three ingredients and is ready in less than an hour.
To make it, you’ll need:
28 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 peeled, halved onion
5 Tblsp of butter
(Salt is optional, but I recommend it to your taste)
You put all of the ingredients into a single pot and let them simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes, giving it an occasional stir.
That’s it! You toss out the onion halves and pour the sauce over your favorite pasta – voila!
It might sound weird, but listen, it totally works, so don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Her husband, Victor Hazan, explained in a 2016 interview how the sauce came to be:
“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 sauté? I’m going to put the onion, tomato, and butter together and forget about it.”
This sauce is proof that delicious sauce doesn’t have to be complicated, and you can make it for far cheaper than the stuff you buy at the store in a jar.
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Hazan has multiple cookbooks full of simple, delicious recipes, so give them a try!
And make sure to report back. I’ll still be here eating my pasta. Mmm.
