Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

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Genius Recipes says: The most famous tomato sauce on the internet, from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Serves 6, enough to sauce 1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta

For the Sauce

  • 2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, prepared as described below, or 2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
  • Salt to taste
  1. Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.
  2. Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
  3. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion before tossing with pasta. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table.

Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce

  • fresh, ripe plum tomatoes (or other varieties, if they are equally ripe and truly fruity, not watery)
  1. The blanching method: Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or less. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut them into coarse pieces.
  2. The freezing method (from David Tanis, via The Kitchn): Freeze tomatoes on a baking sheet until hard. Thaw again, either on the counter or under running water. Skin them and cut them into coarse pieces.
  3. The food mill method: Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl. Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and puree.

Tags: pasta sauce

Comments (74) Questions (5)

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2 days ago alamesa

I think white or yellow are both fine. I've made it with both and really no difference. I've always used unsalted butter but as others have already mentioned the quality of the tomatoes is the key.

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3 days ago AlyssaM

I have asked before, but never got an answer..what type of onion should I use, vidalia, white, yellow? And should the butter be salted or unsalted? Thank you!

Miglore

3 days ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

We've always used yellow onions and unsalted butter but any of these will probably result in great sauce -- just be sure to adjust the seasoning to your taste at the end.

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3 days ago cookycat

I used a yellow onion that I happen to have and salted butter. I do, however, suspect that the tomatoes you use might make a difference. I used tomatoes straight from my garden that were delicious to begin with and this sauce turned out amazing.

Dscn3274

2 days ago inpatskitchen

I use whatever I have on hand..but the tomatoes are the key I think. If using canned, make sure you have a great quality roma or a San Marzano.

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2 days ago AlyssaM

Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate the feedback. With it being Winter, I am going to try it with the absolute best imported canned Roma's or San Marzano's I can find. Fingers crossed!

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3 months ago Betty Frost

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see this recipe on your site. I have her cookbook with this recipe and I had forgotten about it until a few months ago. I prepared it and loved it just as much as I did many years ago. Thanks for sharing it with everyone. Her clam sauce is also amazing.

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3 months ago Crissy Shipp

how about a yummy meatball recipe to go with? anyone?

Miglore

3 months ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

This one! http://food52.com/recipes...

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3 months ago ccincalif

This is how my southern Italian family makes meatballs: http://christinascucina...

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3 months ago peter.boyd.37

@ccincalif, nice meatball recipe. It is very similar to the one passed down by my Calabrian grandmother. The only difference is that her recipe called for ground veal (or goat) instead of chicken/turkey, more cheese, minced onion, cold water instead of milk, and for browning the meatballs in the oven on a baking sheet—less mess to clean up this way. My own addition to her recipe is to add diced pancetta which mimics the way the Albanians/Bosnians make their meatballs (Qebap or Kofte/a, which are in turn based on Turkish Qofte) which I fell in love with when I lived/worked in the former Yugoslavia—of course being Muslims, they left out the pork and used minced bits of an air-dried prosciutto-style beef ham (confusingly also) called prosciutto.

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2 months ago ccincalif

Thanks, Peter-I like the idea of browning the meatballs in the oven; have never seen that done before. Your grandmother's recipe sounds delicious! It's nice that we can save our relatives' recipes to pass down (and onto) others much easier with computers and social media than in the past. My mother gets upset when she can't remember how her mother used to make certain things because nothing was ever written down :(

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4 months ago cookycat

I made this sauce last summer using my garden tomatoes. Took some out of the freezer last week and used it and it was so delicious. Sorry that I didn't make lots more. Tastes like sunshine and summer.

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4 months ago cookycat

Made this in the summer with my delicious garden tomatoes and put it in the freezer. I used some last week and it was so good. I am so sorry that I didn't make more than I did. I will definitely make it again next summer.

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5 months ago Geni758

I do a slightly modified version of this sauce. I freeze the fresh tomatoes, defrost and put them in a food mill. I add 1 - 28 oz. Or 2 - 14.28 oz. cans of tomatoes and put them through the food mill as well. I add butter, onion and salt and simmer for 45 minutes. This sauce reminds me of the sauce my former father in-law used to make. I never knew why it was so good but now I'm convinced it's the butter. I LOVE this sauce! I can't believe it tastes so good and is sooooo...simple. If you haven't tried it, you don't know what you're missing. Definitely my "go to" recipe, bar none.

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5 months ago sam74387

I don't know what went wrong but my sauce has been cooking for an hour and still is very thin. and the taste is off but i can't put my finger on the problem. does anyone have any suggestions? :(

Miglore

5 months ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

That doesn't sound right! Have you been simmering it uncovered? It might help to know if you're using fresh or canned tomatoes too.

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5 months ago sam74387

it is simmering uncovered and i used fresh tomatoes from my garden. my only guess would be that i used too many tomatoes. i don't have a scale so i estimated.

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5 months ago sam74387

i added more butter a while ago and the sauce is starting to thicken now. i am going to start my noodles and hopefully it will be thick by the time my noodles are done, if not i will just eat it as is.

Miglore

5 months ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

That's good -- some juicier fresh tomatoes can take longer to reduce and thicken than romas. I hope that the off taste has gone away and that it all comes together nicely.

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5 months ago sam74387

i just got done and the sauce is the perfect consistency. as for the off taste i realized it was that i thought it was oily. i added some garlic salt and it tastes great on the noodles, it is only too oily when eaten on its own. over all it is a great recipe.

Snowflake_300h

5 months ago always040

Not with the butter... and I would definitely acidify it with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice... and definitely not in quarts for 15 minutes (more like 35). So the short answer is no. Youre probably better off canning acidified tomato puree and making the sauce on the spot. It should freeze well, though.

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6 months ago Chef Lynchini

Can anyone tell me if this resulting sauce can safely be canned using the 15 minute boiling water bath method ?

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6 months ago Galapagos

In a 1969 issue of Gourmet, James Beard published a similar recipe (switch in garlic for the onion in the Marcella Hazen recipe) in an article on quick pasta sauces. The final comment from Mr. Beard was "The delicacy of the fresh tomato flavor will astound you." So it's always referred to as Astounding Sauce in my family. And delicious it is!

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6 months ago Refrigerator Magnet

I got that cookbook when I was 25 years old and it is so dog-earred and loved. This sauce is fabulous and one of the first things my husband and I made, along with homemade tortellini. It is dead simple and delicious.

Dscn3274

7 months ago inpatskitchen

I know I shouldn't "mess" with a recipe as lovely as this but I've been making it as is, adding a clove of garlic, and then when it's finished simmering, instead of removing the onion and garlic, I just take an immersion blender to it. I think it's pretty darn good! And freezes like a dream!

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7 months ago StevenC

Absurdly simple, incredible results...like most really good recipes.
I found the recipe on line and tried it last weekend. Completely bowled over. Don't think I'll ever buy jarred sauce again.
I did try something a little different on the second making. Took half the cooked onion at the end, pureed it and added it back. Lightened the color a bit and helped it coat the pasta beautifully.
Fabulous recipe.

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7 months ago thedaley

I'm not embarrassed to say that I made this and ate 3/4 of it just with a spoon. It was like, oh, let me grab a little ramekin of sauce here, just to taste. And then 5 ramekins later... Or, even better, I used a buttery-onion layer from the simmer to scoop up sauce.

So, so delicious and simple. I'm so glad I now have a basic pasta sauce recipe that won't require a can of tomato paste.

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7 months ago EmilyC

Just wanted to report back on how beautifully this sauce freezes. My mom made a double batch of it and froze small containers of the sauce + meatballs when my daughter was born several months back. Talk about a great thing to pull out of the freezer!

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7 months ago ski_gpsy

Sorry for asking a question here but the "Ask A Question" feature isn't working.

My question is; How can this recipe serve 6? If you simmer 2 cups canned diced tomatoes and their juice as the recipe calls for, you'll probably only get about 1.5 cups of sauce.

Has anyone made this recipe using 2 cups of canned diced tomatoes and if so, how much sauce did it make?

Miglore

7 months ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

It's just enough sauce to lightly sauce spaghetti for 6, but you're right -- it's nice to have more. Doubling the recipe is a good idea!

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10 months ago hitpas

This truly is a genius recipe. It's amazing in the summer with fresh tomatoes and makes me so happy in the winter with a can of San Marzanos. If only I could keep myself from tasting it every 2 seconds while it cooks. So delicious.

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10 months ago Peggio

I found this about a year ago & it is my "go to" sauce for everything requiring tomato sauce. I add some pepper, oregano & rosemary to make a great pizza sauce and sometimes add mushrooms when I am craving those but it needs NOTHING else if you really love the taste of fresh tomato sauce (even using canned, it tastes fresh!).
I bought Essentials of Italian Cooking after finding this sauce & I think Marcella's recipes are the BEST! Thanks for sharing it here.

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about 1 year ago KateC

Pure delight!

I've found this recipe at Marcella's son cookbook a long time ago. It became "THE" tomato sauce at my home, and spoilled any other tomato sauce included in some very interesting pasta recipes and other dishes using a tomatoto sauce. I finally realized I should always sub the recipes tomato sauces by Marcella's. It's fabulous and I'm so glad you shared it here!