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Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce with onion and butter is one of the simplest and most surprising recipes I know. Canned tomatoes simmer with a halved onion, butter and salt until the sauce becomes rich, balanced and deeply flavored. There is no sautéing, chopping or long list of seasonings.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups canned Italian plum Tomatoes cut up, with their juice. You can also substitute fresh if you’ve got good plum tomatoes, but they should be blanched and peeled.
  • 1 medium Onion peeled and cut in half
  • 6 Tbsp Butter
  • Salt
  • 1 lb Pasta spaghetti, penne, or rigatoni.
  • Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Equipment

  • Medium Saucepan

Method
 

  1. Put the tomatoes in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a gentle simmer for 45 minutes, or until the fat floats free from the tomato.
  2. Stir from time to time, mashing any large piece of tomato in the pan with the back of your spoon. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion before serving.
  3. Toss with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Note: As it’s such a rich sauce, it’s better if you don’t overload the pasta and then you get the wonderful flavor of the sauce, pasta and the cheese. It’s perfectly balanced.

    Notes

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