Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter

This is one of the easiest sauces around short of opening a jar, and so much better than any jarred sauce. We use it by itself strictly by the recipe (with the onion on the side so as to not waste it) on spaghetti or other long pasta, we cook meatballs in it for spaghetti and meatballs, and we even use it as a pizza sauce when we fire up the backyard pizza oven. We’ve also used it in a slightly modified form to make tomato soup and that was the best!

I tried this-completely baffled by all the great reviews. Did they actually make it? It was so bland, it actually tasted like nothing more than just a plain can of tomatoes. The onion didn’t really impart any flavor to the sauce. I think this is one of those recipes I call a “myth.”

I already have a good recipe for Marinara and was looking for a recipe for a good tomato sauce when I came across this one and thought that I'd give it a go.
I live in England where,unfortunately, access to good tomatoes is pretty woeful so, tinned tomatoes it was.
I learned quite a while ago that, whilst everyday tinned tomatoes are fine for everyday use, when it comes to sauces, especially pasta sauces, there really is no substitute for San Marzano ( and even that is variable. Find a brand you like and stick with it - I am using Coppola at the moment.)
When cooking a new dish for the first time, I always stick to the recipe exactly.
How people can add lots of extra flavours to a dish and then review the original recipe is beyond me. Don't get me wrong here, my cookbooks/scrapbooks are covered in hand written notes about things to put in/take out along with altered cooking times and temperatures.
So, my thoughts on this recipe as is -
I thought that it was absolutely delicious !
I served it with a decent dried Bucatini pasta cooked 2 minutes under and finished off in the sauce with a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water.
I tried it with both grated Parmesan Reggiano and Pecorino Romano and ,surprisingly, the Pecorino gave a noticeably better result.
I had half of the sauce and the 2 onion halves left so, for lunch the next day, I blitzed 1 half of the onion , added it back to the sauce and served it with Linguini .
Still a tasty sauce but, the onion had taken away some of the bright, tomato taste that the original recipe was all about. Essentially, it had turned it into a different sauce.
I can see where some people are comparing this to tomato soup are coming from and, indeed, I will be trying this sauce with the addition of some stock and fresh basil and I have high hopes of producing an equally good tomato soup. ( Paired with a nice grilled cheese sandwich of course ! ( thank you America for that pairing !)Tip :- try and find some Raclette cheese and wild garlic leaves for the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich.)
I will definitely be making this sauce again, without any changes.
Regards from across the pond,
Andy.

Like most of us, everyone seems to add a bit of “something else” here and there. Now, it no longer is Marcella’s tomato sauce, it’s ours.

The ultimate pasta sauce! The only additions for me, marjoram and roasted fennel seeds. Perfection!

This was fabulous. So far I’ve put it on pork carnitas, eaten as a soup with a dash of my “special” olive oil and tomorrow will serve on pasta as it was originally mean to be. I could eat this all day long and it was a great way to use my abundant tomato supply. I imagine this will be great with canned tomatoes as well. PS - I kept the onions in because once tasting it, I decided they really added great sweetness and texture although I think they could also be pureed too.

I used grass-fed, cultured butter, which makes a nice difference. After tasting, I had to add fresh-ground pepper and some sweetness. I used Keys Beez honey, which I love, but brown sugar would have been fine. I think tomato sauce needs sugar, always. Sorry! I couldn't bear to throw away the onions, so I served them on the side. I put this sauce over gorgonzola-stuffed gnocchi, which cries out for a simple, buttery tomato sauce. Mind blowing.

As someone whose sauce has around 15 ingredients, give or take, it astounds me that this is so popular. Cook the onion without sautéing and then remove it? Unconscionable.

This sauce as soup. Another site (sorry, forget where) recommends using this sauce to make tomato soup. I tried it and it's great!...plain or with some added liquid (broth, milk or cream). Genius (yes, true) pantry save.

My friend told me about this recipe ( he loves it). I however didn’t care for it all that much. It’s good, but I prefer a marinara that is light and fresh tasting. The butter, and it’s a lot, just weighs this down and blankets any freshness; which is further compounded by the fact that there is no Basil in the recipe. If I’m going to use this much butter and have the added calories I’d rather do it making Alfredo. To each their own .

Would this recipe work well as a dipping sauce, such as a marinara sauce in which to dip focaccia bread; or would I need to modify it slightly to get the texture right?

Fantastic!! So simple, yet SO flavorful!

I am a total rookie cook, I ain't useless, but I sure can't make any complicated stuff.
I just tried this recipe and it was gooooood!
I may used another tomato and a bit less liquid (the recipe is not clear to how much liquid to use, when using fresh tomatos) But all in all, I really enjoyed it.

My go-to quickie tomato-based sauce, except I use Miyoko’s vegan butter, and I purée the onions at the end and add them back into the sauce. Yum!

After trying this recipe the first time it became my favorite go-to pasta sauce. It's so delicious and easy to make. I like to puree the sauce after it's finished cooking... including the onions. Also, I always use good quality San Marzano tomatoes.

I have to say that I absolutely love this sauce! It’s such a simple sauce, and couldn’t be easier to prepare, but with a surprising depth of flavor. I’ve even made it with good quality canned tomato sauce (pantry staple), and I’ve also tried using olive oil for half the butter (just for health reasons) —all with excellent results. Oh, and I leave the onion in. It truly is genius!

There is only one way to make a good tomato sauce, and that is with olive oil. Nevertheless, I decided to try it this way and the result is truly disgusting. Avoid!

There is only one way to make a good tomato sauce, and that is by using olive oil. Nevertheless I decided to try it this way, and it is truly disgusting. Avoid!

Love all these people who claim to cook Italian who clearly have never met a Marcella Hazan cookbook, filled with hundreds of her recipes. She makes magic of zucchini, celery, pork and swordfish, not to slight her other skills. This sauce may be one of her best and can be used as a base for ratatouille, soup, stew, pizza, anything that requires tomato. An Italian friend once told me that her even easier Tomato Sauce with Garlic (5 cloves) and Basil is the equivalent of Italian cereal — you can eat it anytime, anyplace, for any meal. She was absolutely genius, and four words prove it: Chicken with Two Lemons.

I hate when people leave bad reviews such as “this was too bland”, so on and such forth. You have eyes, you obviously see that it only has 4 ingredients in it. If you’re someone that loves spices this isn’t the sauce for you. Also, this is a simple sauce, no need to butcher it with all your additions. Again, a simple sauce that is delicate on its own. It’s supposed to use quality tomatoes and the butter compliments the tomatoes. It’s perfectly fine on its own. Marcella Hazen was a chef, it doesn’t matter if Italians made this in Italy or not. Just because she is Italian doesn’t mean this is common in Italy. She’s a chef, chefs experiment and make their own recipes. This is hers and it is marvelous just the way it is. 🤦🏾‍♀️