5 Ingredients or Fewer

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter

by:
August  3, 2011
88 Ratings
Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter
Photo by Rocky Luten
Author Notes

The most famous tomato sauce on the internet, from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Editor's note: Marcella called for 2 cups of tomatoes when using canned, but feel free to use a whole 28-ounce can (closer to 3 cups), if you like. You can scale up the butter and onion, if you like, or don't—it's genius either way. —Genius Recipes

Test Kitchen Notes

This sauce is one of our 10 most popular of all time for good reason: It's the definition of quality ingredients (and restraint!) going a long way. All you need are super-ripe tomatoes (or your favorite canned San Marzano tomatoes, which have fewer seeds and a sweeter, rounder, less acidic taste than other canned tomatoes), a big knob of butter, a peppy white onion, and salt. There's nothing to hide behind, no extra fanfare or filigree.

In its original form, this is the purist's tomato sauce. And as a result, it goes well with just about everything: It's an ideal bed for spicy meatballs, a perfect partner for al dente strands of spaghetti with flecks of Parmesan strewn on top, and—perhaps our favorite use—a welcoming landing pad for heels of crusty bread. And we wouldn't dare forget the soft, jammy onion swimming in the tomatoey mixture; Marcella instructs us to remove it from the sauce and use it for something else, but we've found it's a pretty excellent cook's treat.

While we love this sauce in its purest form, there are all sorts of ways to dress it up, should you feel the need: Use ramps or leeks instead of the onion. Throw in some red pepper flakes as the sauce cooks. For a vegan take, use olive oil instead of butter. Cloves of caramelly roasted garlic tossed in at the end wouldn't be out of place, either. But never, ever change the good-quality tomatoes and salt. Those are fundamental to the dish. —Brinda Ayer —The Editors

Watch This Recipe
Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Serves 6, enough to sauce 1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta
Ingredients
  • 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
  • Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce
  • fresh, ripe plum tomatoes (or other varieties, if they are equally ripe and truly fruity, not watery)
In This Recipe
Tools
Set a Timer
Directions
  1. For the Sauce
  2. 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.
  3. Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
  4. Taste and correct for salt. Before tossing with pasta, you may remove the onion (as Hazan recommended) and save for another use, but many opt to leave it in. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table.
  1. Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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:

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • debplusthree
    debplusthree
  • Smaug
    Smaug
  • Ana Sloan
    Ana Sloan
  • Chanda Tyndall Clark
    Chanda Tyndall Clark
  • Wallis W Serra
    Wallis W Serra
Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

Popular on Food52