Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter

This recipe is so deceptively simple. I thought the sauce would taste like tomatoes and butter and onion, but the sum of ingredients are transformed into something bigger than its parts. I used one 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, 1 stick of butter (scaled), 1 onion halved and a little salt. I couldn't believe the results. I diced up the onion to add back to the sauce. I think that was too much onion for me and next time I will maybe add half of the onion. Definitely a keeper and what an incredible base to work from!

Amazing, delicious! Help me out though, what recommendations can anyone give about a protein to serve with this for entertaining. I was wondering about serving this over a small portion of freshly made spaghetti, topped with a few fresh king prawns? Or would a fish fillet work? I need to make it into a complete meal to serve as a main.

This recipe is so simple and so perfect, if you can exercise restraint. Do not add any additional ingredients and use high quality butter (Kerigold) and tomatoes (San Marzano whole & peeled).

After following comments on this recipe for some time, I finally decided to try it- I had some frozen tomatoes left from last years crop (Costoluto Geovanese, mostly- not that big a fan of Romas). I used Hazan's recipe (even the tiny amount of sugar); the recipe published here is altered some, which didn't seem like a good idea for something this simple. Also not so accurate; the butter did not separate out; the texture was actually pretty good. A food mill is really much the best way to prepare the tomatoes. I have a lot of respect for Hazan, and had hoped for something greater than the sum of its parts, but this seemed to me exactly like the sum of its parts; it tasted like tomatoes, way too much butter, and a trace of onion; took a lot of salt. If you like buttered noodles it might appeal; I do not, and found it pretty heavy, while quite thin nutritionally. I often make fresh tomato sauces that are no more complicated; a bit of basil, garlic and a touch of olive oil will do nicely with good tomatoes- this seems more like a butter sauce than a tomato sauce; just not my thing.

I left a review a couple of years ago and still stand by it. I love this sauce. Its what I use as a BASE. I can add basil or other seasonings to build what I want for a meal. Love to simmer meatballs in it or italian sausage or just a bit of salt and its always terrific. Like Mark H replied, this makes a great pizza topping and yes it makes a fabulous soup.
I do think that the brand of tomatoes makes a big difference in the finished sauce. If crappy tomatoes are used....well that would be a factor. I use fresh tomatoes in the summer or romas that Ive frozen in the winter. As for canned, I prefer the Sclafani brand crushed tomatoes from new jersey. It is reasonably priced and very flavorful. I've recently started blending the onion in with a stick blender after it is fully cooked. I usually let it simmer in a dutch oven for a good hour or two. I make this sauce at least two or three times a month. Everyone I've made it for loves it and asks for the recipe. Wow. 547 reviews now.!!!

The BBC Radio 4/made the Essential cook book of the year when first published. I bough 4 copies for Christmas presents always go back to the toms and onion sauce, the best, cooking in Spain right now. The book was just out when we bought it.

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. 🤦🏾‍♀️

I made this with 8 pounds of tomatoes, 4 onions, a lot of butter and salt. I cooked it much longer than the recipe called for and then rather than removing the onions, blended them in with an immersion blender. The result was a little thin for sauce, I thought, but made for a delicious soup. I liked it so well as soup, I made additional batches with 14 pounds of tomatoes (it was a very good year for tomatoes in the garden). This is now my tomato soup recipe. I might add that I have never been a big fan of tomato soup. I now have at least 8 quarts of homemade tomato soup in my freezer.

I wonder about some of the conversions here...a can of tomatoes is Just over 3 cupS and 1.64 lbs. Not sure how equivalencies would work here.

This is so simple and so phenomenally good. I didn't even use imported canned tomatoes, just a good quality store brand. I chose to use a stick blender to include the onion in it, but it would also be great as written if you want a more delicate flavor. I've spent years tinkering with olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, blah blah blah but now I'm just making this.

Marcella I am a neophite but I know what I like. I am sure they will debate your sauce until the end of time, what a legacy you have left

Once again, my mind is blown! I made this tonight exactly as it is written, and it is positively dreamy. Thank you for taking the time to hunt down these amazing recipes that I would probably never find without you. This one is for sure a keeper.

Spend a lot of time in Italy and cook many Italian food. This recipe is perfect for many occasions when I just want some simple and quick tomato sauce without a fuss, like making ravioli and I want two different sauces, the other one being the sage butter. My Italian friend from Alto Adige always adds a little cream to her sugo, akin to the butter effect. We add parmesan at the end, which is also a daily, right? Sometimes I make tomato sauce with olive oil but Hazan's is my go-to recipe.

People, I question the meaning of "authenticity" speaking of food, which varies in its history and continues to evolve. Dishes refuse to be defined. And also, the cook's nationality or the "blood" doesn't all that relates to how "authentic" the food is produced. I was born in Asia, grew up in different places but my Italian food isn't any less "Italian", I swear.

Is there anyone here--including Food 52--who cooks this sauce as written? I don't think so. All add herbs and subtract fat. No one really like the sauce. Nor do I. It is fatty. It uses butter instead of olive oil, it ruins fresh tomatoes.

The truth of this sauce is that no one actually uses it, including those who recommend it highly--including food 52. No italian uses butter in ragu, and this sauce is not Italian in any general sense. I don't know what Marcella Hazan was thinking. I love her books, but she simply erred here.

Sorry, I love Marcella Hazan but I don't think you can consider a sauce with this much butter a purist's tomato sauce- it is a simple way to go if you like a lot of butter. I also question the designation of "most popular recipe" as judging from printed comments, the great majority of users change the recipe.

Does anyone have any ideas for what to do with the leftover onions?

Does anyone have any ideas for what to do with the leftover onions?

I made this so many times..this review is long overdue...ditto what every one has commented....so simple..so easy....so delicious...

This is the best sauce I have ever made. I always missed a basic tomato sauce without all the extra stuff in it. Who would have thought such a simple recipe can be so delicious! I usually cut the onion into my sauce and I love it.

OUTSTANDING.
I hate recipes. I do not consider this a recipe, but instead a meal composed with instinct.This will be a staple in our household from here on out. A standing ovation to Marcella and the creative staff at Food52.

With all due respect to Marcella, just cannot conceive of a tomato aside with the two basics: Wroblewski and garlic! Torn basil leaves just before serving.

Love, love this recipe. Such a yummy healthy meal. I topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil from my window sill.

Making this again this afternoon while we self quarantine. I love this recipe. So simple and so delicious. Ive made it with fresh summer tomatoes and frozen summer tomatoes and canned tomatoes. The homegrown fresh tomato version is incredible but it's early spring, so will be using canned. I'll also be adding some frisky hot Italian sausage towards the end of the cooking. Eat well. Stay well.

Please keep in mind that this is a BASE sauce, so it’s very versatile in regards to additions and tweaks. I uss it as a base sauce, then I add my pesto, or parmessean, etc.

It's not Italian way. Italians do not use butter for tomato sauce. Ciao.

Garbage! It tasted plain, and uninteresting! Never again will I waste my time and tomatoes!

I really wanted to love this, but it tastes like Campbell’s tomato soup!

Simply the very best. I used any ugly tomatoes from my garden to make this heavenly sauce!

Has anyone tried making this ahead and freezing for later use, or does it have to be made fresh? Thanks!

Hi All, If you want to double this recipe, would you suggest using double the ingredients or would you scale back the butter? Thanks!

The onion has given all it can for the sauce. Throw it out with a Thank you!

I have made this sauce with canned and fresh and doing the blanching method with fresh plum tomatoes is so much better.

It's a good sauce but its HEAVY and RICH. You definitely have to eat it in small portions. I took out the onions, diced them, and put them back in. If I make this again I think I'll only reserve 1/2 of an onion to put in the sauce and use the other 1/2 in another recipe. Would make again in a pinch because I always have these 4 ingredients in my pantry. 3.5/5.

OMG....finally tried it and it is AMAZING!!!! I used one 14 oz can of tomatoes and a small onion I had tossed in the freezer...added some garlic (knee jerk instinct...forgot it wasn't in the recipe). Tossed it with some Angelhair, topped it with shaved parm and ate the whole bowl...SUBLIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just made Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce with onion and butter, using 2 cans of San Marzano tomatoes, onion and sweet butter. Her original recipe, in The Classic Italian Cookbook, shows the addition of 1/4 teaspoon sugar. The subtle sweetness takes the sauce to another level: wonderful!

Greasy.

Hey there! I've been fascinated with this recipe for years but never tried it till last night. It is a perfectly nice tomato sauce. That's all. Not going into ecstasies about it. Kind of a letdown. My favorite part was eating one of the stewed flavorful onion halves before putting away the leftover sauce.

So simple and so good. The beautiful video helps you trust the recipe and go. I must confess that only because I had some bacon and sausage due to be used, Ive started with them. I removed the sausage, but kept the bacon. It added a subtle smoky taste that was noticed by my guests. Regarding the onions, I had doubled the recipe, and had 4 big halves. I’ve decided to add only 2 1/2 halves and thought it was perfect. It added extra texture and taste, without overwhelming. Finally, to bring some fresh taste, I’ve added some basil.
The beauty of the sauce is that it works by itself, but at the same time it opens many possibilities.

I had seen this recipe multiple times and I finally tried it last night. It was so simple and so delicious. It complemented my fresh pasta perfectly. I will be making this again.

I've been getting notifications from Food52 each time someone reviews this recipe...I know I'm a glutton for punishment since it's been out so long I saw that some other blogger on Food52 has posted the recipe once again.
I happen to be a fan - it's my go to vegetarian sauce. But people please - adding meat, chicken broth , other vegetables, not using butter, etc etc. - that is another recipe all together. The beauty of this sauce is its simplicity - good tomatoes, good butter, and good onions - basta!

This is an excellent no nonsense sauce. But, with that much butter it should be! I did taste it upon finishing, and i did add some sugar to balance the can tomatoes. My sauce thickened up in about 30 minutes so I added 1 1/2 homemade chicken stock to thin it out and continued to simmer then used an immersion blender and blended the onions in it. Also a personal preference, added cooked turkey Italian sausage. Will be using this recipe again.

I’v been cooking for a very long time, over 70 years and I still cook for myself. I have used many different sauce recipes and recently I came across Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce recipe, tried it, because it was very easy. It turned out to be the best sauce recipe I’ve made. I substituted San Marzano Tomatoes 16 oz can, it was winter and tomato in my area aren’t that great. As soon as the summer tomatoes come in, I’ll be trying them in this recipe. Stay tuned for an update....

Made this and added a tbs. of red wine vinegar and half tsp. Of sugar....1/8 tsp. Red pepper flakes.... served on Buccatini with Romano and ribbons of fresh basil.... phenomenal!!!!

Love the idea of using this delightfully simple sauce alongside grilled Italian (fennel) sausage and polenta.
Hard to imagine 400+ comments on a 3 ingredient recipe, but I actually read about 50 of them!
The reviews with variations were interesting. The comments on the basic sauce recipe were less so. Not much you can say beyond “liked it”, “meh”, or “hated it”.
Keep up the great work F52!!

What makes cooking great? How about tomatoes, onions, and butter generating this much of a discussion.

What makes cooking great? How about tomatoes, onions, and butter generating this much of a discussion.

Just made this last night. There's such a tendency to get bogged down in a dependence on millions of ingredients. A lot of comments I read (from people who refused to try it at all) complained about a lack of garlic, herbs, etc.. But periodically getting back to bare basics is important so you can appreciate ingredients for what they are. And, I have to say, the clean flavors in this sauce really didn't miss all the extras.

Definitely keeping this in my back pocket.

Well Folks,
I read all of your wonderful Comments. Positive comments are always the path to creativity when sharing the love of food. I have family in the Sarno region of Italy which is the San Marzano region. In fact my cousins own farms and livestock there. I visit almost every year. The one thing about regions south of Rome is that they cook with “less is More” style. Everything is very simple and fresh. Never overcooked by any means. So that being said, this recipe is something you’d see there. It’s a 123 sauce. Although many Americans who are used to long cooked sauces with many ingredients, the European Italians tend to cook with minimal ingredients along with fresh sourced produce and ingredients. There’s many ways to cook and prepare sauces. The options are endless. The best sauce will always be what you like and enjoy. I live in NJ and bring in to my home about 1 ton of a mushroom compost soil and plant and grow San Marzano tomatoes in NJ!! They are simply the king of Tomatoes! So listen, Just enjoy!! Live and let live! Buon Appetite!! I appreciate the recipe. Looking forward to trying it with my home grown San Marzanos!!

I love this sauce! One hint for “perfect” every time: if you are not using those amazing, straight from the garden, summer tomatoes, but are instead using a good quality of canned tomatoes, add a teaspoon or two of sugar and a tablespoon or two of either lemon juice or vinegar. The tiny extra bit of sweet and the extra acid bring back the taste of perfect summer tomatoes. Try it, and you will never use another red sauce but this one.

While some have given me grief for downplaying the recipe as not all that interesting, give me this; Indian butter chicken is one of my favorites. Put enough smooth butter into anything, any you have a keeper. This has enough butter.

I tried this and it came out shockingly good. Very delicious. However, the trick is to use fresh, very ripe, and plump tomatoes and skin them properly. Pass them through a hand-cranked food mill to puree them a bit. Make sure the sauce has good consistency. I served it with the onion (which was soft at this point). Also, I put the butter in first, then the onion, and let that cook a while before adding the pureed tomatoes. Might try with a can of good San Marzano tomatoes next time since fresh, ripe, fleshy sauce tomatoes are hard to come by in NYC.

I love this recipe. I often make it served over rigatoni on the same plate with lima beans cooked in cream. That sounds crazy, but it's a delicious combination. This is, of course, Marcella's very well-known miracle of a recipe, but she has another plain tomato sauce in Marcella's Italian Kitchen called Simple Tomato Sauce, and it's scrumptious too. In the article Top Foodies Choose their Favourite Recipes of All Time, Ruth Rogers said this about it, "My husband is Italian and that's what he loves the most. When we entertain, which isn't very often, people always expect a fancy meal but I often make this dish because it's the nicest dish there is."

I've been making this recipe for years and it's my favorite party trick - i.e. you rent a house for the weekend and start happy hour a little too early, and lose all ambitions to cook so pull this one out of your back pocket. I've had groups of people watch me toss the halved onion and butter into a cold pot of tomatoes and gasp, jumping in fear! But every single time it's perfect. For those who have complained, make sure you're using the correct amounts of butter and salt. I have cooked this sauce on the stove or put the whole thing in the oven when I need the space (or don't want to watch the pot). I also always puree the sauce with the onion which lends more sweetness and body, usually with an immersion blender - and add more butter if I'm feeling frisky. It's truly genius.

Anyone who finds this sauce bland or tasteless is simply not using quality ingredients. With so few ingredients ever one matters. Use the highest quality butter you can find, go the extra mile and use fresh tomatoes (seriously blanching and skinning takes 5 mins) or at least a can imported from Italy. I’ve impressed many old school Italians with this sauce and they couldn’t believe it took less than an hour and used three ingredients. Let the ingredients sing for you here.

Sad to say, the references to the Boiardi family recipes do not disclose the ingredients in a can of Chef Boyardee. Admittedly, Hazen's sauce is better than (but, to my mind, just as tasteless as) the Chef's which lists the following as its ingredients:
Tomatoes (Tomato Puree, Water),
Water,
Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2] And Folic Acid),
Beef,
Crackermeal (Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid),
High Fructose Corn Syrup,
Soybean Oil,
Salt,
Textured Vegetable Protein (Soy Flour, Soy Protein Concentrate, Caramel Color),
Carrots,
Onions,
Modified Corn Starch,
Caramel Coloring,
Citric Acid,
Enzyme Modified Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes],Cream, Water, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum,Carotenal [Color]),

Personally when I make this sauce I like to leave one half of the onion whole and slice the other half. That way when I use the sauce I get nice plump slivers of onion with each tomato bite. I prefer to eat this sauce with gemelli, so each fork full has one onion and one gemelli on it. The tomatoes I use are diced brandywines. I use Delita butter of parma. The milk from their cows comes from the Parma area of the Emilio-Romana.

I see a lot of ill tempered and mean spirited people in this comments section. The comments seem to fall into two camps: those that think this recipe somehow isn't Italian enough, and those that think this recipe tastes like spaghetti-os (theres a subset of these people who are then bullying others who like the recipe and saying that they have an infantile palate for liking it.

If ignorant people would bother to educate themselves before they open their mouths, people would stop to learn that Marcella Hazan and Chef Boiardi (Boyardee in American) were both born in the same region of Italy—the Emilio-Romana. Hazan is from a town called Cesenatico, while Boirardi is from Piacenza. This is a very common style of tomato sauce in this region. It tastes like spaghetti-os, because this is the sauce that the Boyardee family brought to America with them and used to start their company.

If you look through the Boyardee family cookbook here through this Amazon link, you see that the cookbook even has a recipe for this same sauce in it: http://a.co/d/2xiByyb

It's amazing how many people are trying to doctor this sauce. It seem they're upset that this isn't mariners sauce, so they're trying to turn it into marinara. It's not a marinara sauce; it's it's own style.

There's a lot of ill tempered and mean spirited people in this thread arguing about how much they dislike this sauce. I'm seeing the comments fall into two camps: that this sauce is somehow not Italian enough and the other camp saying that this is spaghetti-os (a sub camp is then bullying people for liking this sauce by calling them babies with spaghetti-o palettes).

It's a shame how ignorant people are always so eager to open their mouths before speaking or educating themselves. If you bothered to read or learn something, you'd realise that Marcella Hazan and Chef Boiardi (Boyardee) are both from the same region of Italy—the Emilio-Romana. Marcella is from Cesenatico and Boiardi is from Piacenza.

Marcella's sauce tastes like spaghetti-os cause they're the same recipe. Here's a link on Amazon to the Boyardee family cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Memories-Recipes-Stories-Boyardee/dp/1584799064/ref=asc_df_1584799064/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=265933302123&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11576991545650642699&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007459&hvtargid=pla-569181053902&psc=1.

You'll notice that this same sauce recipe is listed in the book as well. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's wrong. This is as Italian of a recipe as they come. Now sit down, shut up, and stop being elitist.

If every college kid learned how to make this sauce, the world would be a better place. As for canned tomatoes I have found Mutti dieced tomatoes work really well. Italian butter is a nice inclusion. Simplicity can be a good thing.

My favorite “go to” Marcella Hazan sauce is from her “Italian Kitchen” book I’ve had since the mid-1980’s....no muss, no fuss....Sugo di Aglio, Olio e Pomodoro...takes about 20 minutes! I use a large can of Marzano tomatoes cut up with their juice for 1-1 1/2 lbs. of pasta. Since I prefer not to “drown” my pasta in sauce, this version fits the bill! Topped with freshly grated pecorino-romano cheese!

Tasted like tomato soup

This sauce with fresh pasta and parmesan cheese is heavenly. My family does not like chunks of tomato so I puree the sauce. The sauce is so simple...love, love, love!

I've been making this sauce exactly as written by Marcella for years. It's absolutely delicious when made with the best tomatoes, fresh high quality butter, and sweet onions. I like making sauce with lots of other ingredients at times, but this simple sauce over spaghetti with parmesan is the ultimate comfort dish.

I've put off making this sauce for a long time. Didn't believe the hype, how good could it be? Uhmm. That good. I did use canned tomatoes and removed the core and any skin before throwing them in. I think I sipped a cup of spoonfuls during "tasting" - it could be soup just on it's own. Reminded me of my college days cheap and easy meal of spaghetti with melted butter and ketchup (gasp - the horror), but in such a better way. Wow!

I like the clean simplicity of this sauce and have liked the flavor ever since I found this recipe. I use tomatoes fresh from my garden and 1 can to tomato sauce. I add a few cloves of garlic, pressed, and some dried Italian seasoning. I am making the sauce today and will add some zucchini and chicken meatballs and will let them simmer in the sauce and will serve them over pasta, or on a hoagie roll for meatball subs. I am using a BHG recipe for the meatballs. I will serve with grated Parm/Romano cheese and a sprinkling of shredded basil from my garden. I highly recommend this sauce!

Mine came out very sour. Well that was disappointing.

Marinara certainly is one of those recipes that starts arguments....this thread alone has more than 350 comments! I’ve added comments to it, and I will again: After using canned a couple of times (pretty good), last year we grew many tomatoes, San Marzanos and a couple of big meaty heirlooms. Made a lot of sauce (per the recipe, although less butter) and froze it. Just used the last container the other day.....and in my opinion the flavor of the tomatoes drives it! Fresh, really ripe San Marzano are the best, and the beauty of the recipe is that because it is a simple base, you can add to it a desired. We usually go with traditional garlic, mushrooms, bay and oregano. It works with any protein you choose, and regular or gluten free pasta (or spiral squash!).
I have found that the cooking time needs to be increased. A big pot of fresh takes an hour and a half to cook down. Otherwise it’s a classic I will use forever!

Made this tonight with fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes and wasn't overwhelmed with the final result. Sorry. I followed the recipe exactly and thought the sauce was very reminiscent of tomato soup. Again, sorry. Took about 2x as long to reduce to a usable sauce. Very sweet although there were only tomatoes, onion and butter. Will try again with different varieties of tomatoes and add in some fresh herbs, maybe a bit of red pepper flakes and I will also try the suggestion to add vinegar. I so wanted this to be amazing and it just wasn't.

This recipe is amazing all on its own. For a twist though, I add some pureed sauteed (in butter of course) mushrooms. This how an Italian Momma taught me. Thanks Mrs. C! :)

Sweet coincidence, I was making my version of this sauce just last night, contemplating how this method, and a couple of trips to Italy, have shifted the way I approach tomato sauce. “Keep it simple, don’t upstage the tomatoes” is the lesson Hazen’s method taught me.

Before, I was inclined to go the kitchen sink route. Now that I get the Zen of simplicity, I am careful with and confident that my subtle variations don’t overstep.

I’ve settled into the habit of always keeping the onion by finely dicing. I have learned (by error) not to overdo the onion—1/4 cup, diced, is about right for 28 oz of tomatoes. I almost always add a small clove of fresh garlic, sometimes smashed whole, then removed, sometimes finely diced and left in. Occasionally I go with all butter but most times I combine with olive oil. And always, I slowly simmer the onions and fat with black pepper because that’s how I learned to do it in Rome. When the oil is fragrant and onions soft, I add 28 oz of Cento Chef Cut San Marz tomatoes (lengthwise strips that mostly stay intact without potassium chloride) and a pinch of sugar. I know. Just let me do it.

When using as the base sauce for an al forno dishe like manicotti, lasagna, or eggplant rollatini, I shorten the simmering time.

When using as a pasta sauce, I allow myself to step up the flavor, adding red pepper flakes and a few herbs, then an extra stir of butter before saucing. At table, I add a swirl of olive oil. If it’s summer and there’s fresh basil, I sprinkle some leaves on top with Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Probably some of the dislikers of this recipe and the purist adherents of it who follow the comments here will take issue with my interpretation. Fine.

I just slipped in to say that this simple, surprisingly controversial (?), method has completely shifted the way I understand and appreciate all the tomato sauces I am served or make. It’s even changed the way I shop for premade pasta sauce—passing over the overly chunky, multi color, ingredient- and herb-filled jars for the simplest, brightest red ones like Colavita or Cento. Thanks, Food52, for facilitating that reset years ago.

I’ve tried this three times and it was relatively bland until the last time I made it. The first time I used whole, peeled Cento tomatoes and it wasn’t very flavorful (though the onion was great for other dishes) and the second time I did the same, using the whole can each time. The third time I stuck to 16 oz of the canned, DICED Cento tomatoes (instead of 28 oz of whole peeled) and used more than 5 tbsps of salted butter (I used about 7 total, adding the last 2 at the end) and a cube of beef stock (I make mine and freeze them in ice cube trays and keep them in the freezer for occasions like this). Only after the addition of that beef broth and extra butter did I have a winner.

Yes, increase all ingredients and cooking time. If the recipe doesn't float your boat, use this one for #10 can (or even two) once summer is over.https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/how-to-oven-roast-tomatoes-canned-fresh.html

I tried this with the suggested 28 oz. can, and liked it. I have a large #10 can of DOP that I want to try next time. As the onion is only 1/2'ed do you think I should scale up all the ingredients proportionately? Also should I extend the cooking time? FYI # 10 can is about 103 oz. Thanks:)

I tried the recipe as written but added some whole garlic cloves along with the onion. The sauce came out great. I want to make larger quantities, do I have to add 5 TBS. of butter for each can of whole tomatoes?

I have tried it. Sorry it is just fair. I do not understand the hype.

Well I am trying this recipe tonite , for the first time and I will follow recipe just as it is printed. If I make again, then I will get daring and add some stuff , but for now stick 2 recipe. And I will be using Muir Glen Organic San Marzano tomatoes....wish me luck.

I live in the desert and it's impossible to find fresh tomatoes that are juicy and sweet, even at Whole Foods or Sprouts or farmers markets. I moved here from the Midwest and over the last 10 years the weather became increasingly stormy and wet which resulted in mediocre, waxy, mealy, tasteless tomatoes even from farm stands. The closest I've come to a real tomato taste like my Dad grew in his small garden when I was growing up are Campari but they are very small so you'd need a ton to make a sauce. I use canned whole San Marzano tomatoes for sauces, but I'm looking for any suggestions on other canned brands that are good?? Thanks.

This is a great, simple recipe and easy to riff on. If you go with canned tomatoes it's important to use Italian as specified - domestic products (whole or diced) often have calcium chloride added, which helps the tomatoes hold their shape and can prevent them from breaking down.

Sooooooo good, the genius of simplicity !

Photo looks like it's made with a shallot or a young spring onion, not a stored winter onion. That would be a bit more harmonious with Italian tomatoes and European butter, and a glass of wine to go with. Fresh veg is often sweet after a little simmer.

Perceptions vary, but I expect most (all?) of the comments on 52 carry the same commitment to good cooking that defines the site. After all, not all ideas or recipes are created equal...that’s why cooking is personal and communal at the same time.

Hi everyone—please remember to, as we say, channel your best self with your comments. This community is at its best when we're all kind and constructive in our feedback, both positive and negative.

The snippy comments are why I left food52. It's just a recipe. By the way, thousands of people liked it.

Seems to me a person ought to be able to judge the taste of a recipe AS IT IS WRITTEN without such judgments being called "evil." Some recipes are better than others. I, for one, prefer to know how a recipe tastes, not what someone has added to it.

Well, for starters nobody was saying evil things, it was a Hazen recipe. And, as such, it seems to be anointed as “great” based on authorship. The original recipe tastes like tomatoes with onion. That’s all anyone commented on...so fix it up to how you like it, because “tomatoes with onion” is not all that great. Kim has nothing to do with the discussion, pro or con.

For those with negative comments: Thankyou for sharing Kim. I think (hope) we're all intelligent enough to doctor it up if we have an idea on what to use. I think the point was, and everyone who chose to open your recipe link, was that it was a THREE INGREDIENT recipe. What else did any of the negative ppl expect? Good job....proper ingredients for using only 3 items. Hasn't anyone ever had an occasion where they didn't HAVE a lot of ingredients in the house and couldn't or didn't want to go out to the store? Let's have some appreciation here for Kim's effort.

Gosh! I didn't think recipes could become so politically argued (with mud slinging added)...lol. My rationale to recipes is that they're guidelines and those who wish to tweak to their creative tastes is a given. I think the recipe is the epitome of simplicity itself; having said that, I added a fat clove of garlic (whole, not chopped), a bay leaf and a big pinch of red pepper flakes. I feel that the basic method of slow simmering an onion in buttery tomatoes is lovely and consider the additions give it my personality. My hubby hates herbs, so this is a great recipe for us. I encourage anyone who likes this recipe and wants a little more 'oomph' to check out Scott Connant's tomato sauce recipe. (I kinda took a few components from his and combined it with this one)
Happy cooking all. Play nice ;)

I made this sauce today and while it's not first time I made it, it is the first time using a variety of fresh tomatoes from my first-time garden. Pure heaven. So fresh, simple and pure. I made it exactly as written except I made two batches quadrupling the amounts in each (yes--16 pounds of tomatoes!) and simmered each batch for three hours. I then froze most of it to have "fresh", delicious spaghetti sauce in the dead of winter. P.S. I used the blanching method to peel the tomatoes. Extremely quick and easy.

I made this for the first time a couple of nights ago and LOVED it! I tossed some shell pasta through and sprinkled parmesan, basil, and a garlic and parsley pangrattato on top. Vegetarian and husband approved. Will definitely be making this one again!

I boil it down to a thick consistency and use it as a pizza sauce. Absolutely perfect. Easy to make, and its simple and pure taste goes well with any other pizza toppings I add to. Not sure as a pasta sauce for me though...

I thought it was great! Yes, all the suggestions for additions would be cool, but the pure flavor of fresh garden tomatoes is amazing in itself. If you use something other than out of the garden fresh tomatoes (not the imported hard, yucky things) then it helps to add stuff, but let's hear it for pure, minimalist, delicious tomato! YUM!!

Oh my hell...really?
It is very tasty but I need garlic.
Garlic.
Garlic.
and more Garlic.

thankyouverymuch.

To be constructive for a moment, one way to make this an interesting sauce would be to add a tablespoon of dry Italian herbs or a tablespoon of Herbs of Provence.....oh, and an anchovy filet or five.

Sheron so correct - thanks!

Marion, get a grip. What, are only those who liked a recipe allowed to comment? Seriously? If someone doesn't like it and says so, how is that "hurtful?" We're not in kindergarten anymore, my dear. If something like this disturbs you, I can't even imagine how the evening news must yank your chain! Take a deep breath and chill. Oooommm.

I think my mom (100% Italian) would have added water and called it tomato-onion soup. Good for little kids.

I've been trying to analyze what I dislike about this recipe. I think it's the butter. Olive oil--and not a great lot of it--produces a simple, light sauce--which this recipe does not achieve. I am not dissing Hazen; I learned to cook Italian from Hazen before going on to older recipes. But this sauce simply does not taste Italian to my mouth. Eating out in Florence for a month taught me a lot about what good Italian cooking can be like. This is not it.

I love this stuff! I could eat it like soup! One of the few recipes I make as written and no doctoring.

I've made this recipe and Marcella's original which calls for more butter, 8 tablespoons vs. 5. The extra butter makes a big difference, as well as using the best tomatoes, whether in season fresh tomatoes or quality canned Marzano tomatoes. This tomato sauce is the stuff of arias! It's ethereal.

I suspect this recipe gets so much play because it's Marcella Hazan's. There must be a million ways to up the flavor of tomatoes, and adding onions is just one...and not a very flavorfull one at that.

Didn't get the hype. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't anything noteworthy.

Awesome sauce I had to use a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes because that's what I had and the recipe still worked awesomely. this sauce is so awesomely versatile I took the sauce and put it in the blender to purée the onion and the sauce together and then threw it in a pan of Italian sausage. Thank you for sharing.

I followed the directions using imported Italian crushed tomatoes (inexpensive brand) and my usual butter, followed the advice and let the tomatoes reduce a little longer--it was unbelievable rich and delicious. One thing that might have been a reason for my success against Chef Boyardee was that I know the setting for simmer on my range and came UP to that temp rather than reducing from a boil to a simmer. (Oh, I did add less than a teaspoon of brown sugar near the end of cooking, but only because my guest prefers a sweeter sauce and I didn't want to risk what I adored without the sugar being too bitter.

It's a gorgeous sauce and absolutely delicious.

Loved it! It is all about the simple rich flavor and lovely silkiness of the sauce. Perfect over pasta with a side of bright green lightly steamed broccoli.

Tastes like Chef Boy-R-Dee sauce but not as sweet. Twice the calories and 9x the saturated fat as many marinaras have on top of the blank taste too. This was all around awful and I'll never eat this swill again.

For the naysayers; you really didn't do it correctly, otherwise you'd had liked it. All that butter, the onion, the basic seasoning. You definitely have to tweak it a bit with salt, pepper to taste, and yes--add a bit of brown sugar and/or touch of cinnamon to personalize it. It can taste a bit "sour" as others have mentioned. Touch of sugar DURING the cooking fixes that.

i made this as written, turned out ok. not a keeper for me however, as it didn't have any wow factor

i thought it was good i couldnt afford the san marzono tomatoes but i used pastine which is also very good the only thing i did different was add a little sugar i thought it was a little sour.

You can also just use the large holes of a box grater on the tomatoes. Works like a charm.

Try this to remove the skins, and avoid the messy food mill! Slice tomatoes in half, and using a 'cooling' rack placed over a bowl, rub the tomatoes over it, pressing down. The tomatoes are reduced to chunky pulp and the skin doesn't go through the small grid of the rack.

Taking advantage of fresh tomatoes this summer I've made this twice in the last 3 weeks. Smooth and lovely rich taste, my husband loves it too. I'll be freezing some!

I made this for dinner using Muir Glen whole tomatoes and tossed it with cavatappi. It was outstanding. Rich and velvety and truly like none other. My husband and I loved it. I did make one minor adjustment: I like smooth sauce so I put the tomatoes through a food processor before adding to the pot.

I'm making this for the second time tonight. First time I used canned San Marzano tomatoes and it was delicious made per the recipe - rich flavors and and thanks to Marcella for giving us this classic of Italian home cooking! This time I threw in a couple of cloves of garlic and will top with fresh Italian oregano as well as the cheese - classics always allow for adaption.
I recommend using sweet onions - italian red or vidalia - and cook it at least an hour! And don't skimp on the butter!

I was looking forward towards making this sauce. I live in México and until sometime ago you could not find Italian canned tomatoes. Finally mu supermarket started sellin them and they wer also organic (quite expensive due to the dólar-peso ratio). Completly dissapointed with the sauce, even if I bought european butter. Sorry Ms Hazan, not one of your hits.

I am completely and thoroughly DUMBFOUNDED by all the rave reviews this sauce has received. This bland, insipid glop could only appeal to someone in a high chair. Tastes just like the sludge that comes in a can of Spaghetti-O's. This is the worst sauce I've ever tasted. I had to toss out the pasta I put it on. Just horrible.

After years of reading about this sauce I finally made it. I only had canned tomatoes on hand and it did not smell great when I was putting everything in the pot to simmer on the stove top. However after about 10-15 minutes it started to smell beautiful and after 45 minutes of simmering I blitzed it with the pieces of onion in it, tossed with some cooked pasta, fresh basil, generous amounts of salt and pepper and freshly grated Parmesan - and it was delicious. I will be making this sauce for years to come. Beautiful.

Delightful surprise! The ingredients are so simple that I can actually taste every of them. Just make sure to use the best quality and don't skim on the butter! I ate it with spaghetti with oregano, garlic salt and black peppercorn sprinkled on top. Delicious & easy affair for one.

My go to make-ahead-and-freeze recipe! Its a strange comfort knowing I have this stuff ready to go in the freezer. So delicious, easy and affordable. I've turned my mom and sister into believers as well! I used high quality canned tomatoes in my last batch, which worked perfectly and I give the cooked onion a whirl in the food processor for a lil texture. Loooove love it.

Made this last night and I love it. My husband made a comment about how usually when we have made homemade quick sauces at home, they turn out bitter or just not very flavorful, but this one was great. I doubled it and really let it cook--reduced by about half and I think that was the key. Also, being generous with the salt probably helped as well. So good, and can't wait to make again. Eating it right now over spaghetti squash and loving it--not like spaghetti-O's at all.

I made this tonight for my family and it was WONDERFUL! I used quality canned tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes and it turned out great! I took out the onion; but I love onions, so might slice a few next time and leave them in. Once done, I kept the sauce in the pan and put my noodles in with just a bit of pasta water and a little bit of cream. I plated with some fresh cut basil and viola! Definitely going to make this again!

I will try this. I make MH's long cook tomato and meat ragu and it is divine but sometimes I want something fresh and light. I have to say that canned San Marzanos aren't as good as they are cracked up to be. I don't know why. However I can my own tomatoes in season and I know how deliciously sweet and savory they are so I will make this simple sauce with confidence. It's interesting that the onion is just infused in the sauce and not added. maybe I will chop a little of the onion for texture. This over pasta with a bit of fresh herbs and some peccorino romano cheese sounds simple and fresh. Use the best fresh or canned tomatoes. Taste and if it doesn't taste as you want add sugar, wine or vinegar and salt to bring the flavor into balance.

Made it again. Still tastes like the sauce in canned Spaghetti O's that my kids used to like. Not really Italian way of cooking,

I made it with quality canned marzano tomatoes as well and wasnt impressed either....dont think the recipe should call for canned as a substitute if it doesnt turn out good...so many better pasta sauces out there an life is too short to make losers.

Made this recipe, doubled for the first time for my Granddaughters. We loved it. I did leave it covered for 30 min and uncovered for 15...maybe reverse that next time. So simple yet so deliciously fresh with Heirloom tomatoes.

I use heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joes. I follow the recipe pretty closely exctept I leave the skins on and just let the tomatoes stew for about an hour in the butter and oil. I never thought (i'm a total n00b) of adding my own spices... I'll have to experiment next time I do this recipe.

You don't mention the use of any spices. Even though, I can add my own spicing, I find the recipe sounds bland and boring.

Tonight I go to try this recipe.

How I love this recipe.

so easy. and sooooooooo good! this might now be my go-to sauce.

variation: add a slice of bacon & red pepper, and you (almost) have an amatriciana!

I used canned San Marzono tomatoes and realitivly cheap butter and no sugar and minimal salt with this method and everyone that tried it wanted to drink it straight

I made this and it was horrible! Threw it away.

Have made this a couple of times in the last week staying at a friend's place in Tuscany just outside Arezzo. I used fresh San Marzano plum tomatoes from the garden, peeled, and proper Italian butter. Anyone making it with UK or US style butter is probably going to get a decent result, but I think you need some north Italian burro which is creamy white, to get the flavour Marcella was after. It's a knock out success. All I would say to critics is that making it with tinned tomatoes, as I've done before in the UK, and with the wrong butter doesn't really do justice to the sauce.

I've made this recipe as it's written and it's divine. I craved this recipe all day, but when I got home I didn't have any onions, so I used the aromatics I had on hand - carrots and garlic - and the recipe worked *almost* as well as it does with the onion.

so, I'm making this...have not prepped my tomatoes for sauce by any of the methods listed. I'm using baby/tiny tomatoes, 10 pounds of them. Have followed the recipe, will add fresh chives and oregano. Looking forward to the results.

I never met Marcella Hazan. But I'm not afraid to make this with CSA tomatoes (food mill method) and blend the onions in with an immersion blender. Then added ground meat. Delish! Don't care if I'm conjuring Chef B.

Always was a simplistic recipe. Tomatoes and butter for an Italian sauce? I don't think so. Hazan's cookbooks are wonderful, but this recipe is not Italian.

Just made this as a double batch with two cans of San Marzano tomatoes. Very disappointed. It is bitter--not sweet at all. I followed the recipe to the letter. Bummer.

I've been making this for 30 years. It's awesome. As comfort food, in the winter I make it with a large can of tomato puree, instead of the whole tomatoes. Also my version, I think, from the original cookbook recipe has a couple of spoons of sugar in it. Or, maybe I've just added it over the years. It tames the bitterness you can find in the canned tomatoes.

Finally made this out of tomatoes from my garden. It is amazing. I really am trying not to just take a spoon and eat it all.

I never tire of this recipe -- i've been making it for 10 years. it's a miracle every time i take the first bite.

Fiiiiinally finally tried this. Love at first bite. <3 <3 <3 <3

I once had lots of tomatoes from my garden and not enough time to process them. I decided to just wash them, take out the top of the core, quarter them and put them into my blender. They came out just fine. I froze them and used them in future sauces.

The medium food mill setting is better- it will remove most of the seeds. Tomatoes can also be peeled by fire- in the broiler, on the barbecue, or over a burner (on a large fork), it only takes a few moments to char the skin (much faster and easier than peppers), or cut in half and run face down over a coarse box grater (the skin will stay behind). One Indian recipe I read recommended boiling them in vinegar; never tried it, but it should clear out your sinuses nicely, if nothing else.

The 2 cups of canned tomatoes was way too little (that's one 14.5 ounce can)--could this be a mistake in the recipe? In the printed recipe the fresh-canned gram conversion is 900g to 480g. So I used two 14.5 ounce cans and added more butter towards the end for about 7 tbsp total. I also pureed most of the tomato, because my son won't eat the chunks. It was DIVINE. I ate it with a spoon for dessert.

Always late to the party. I tossed some turkey meat balls in mine, and it really brought out a great flavor. I'm certainly no cook, and mine was pretty runny. For future reference, how can I thicken up my sauces?

I tried this out today but added some garlic and basil. So amazing.

this is really really delicious!!

I started putting butter in my homemade tomato sauce after a life-changing dinner at Trentina in Cleveland. I asked why the sauce was so good and they told me it was made with lots of butter.

Great tasting sauce, but it beats me how 2 cups of tomatoes would ever make enough sauce for a pound of pasta, much less a pound and a half! I'm doubling the tomatoes next time.

Robin Lewis Kane
Can you give more info on freezing tomatoes please? I love the idea! Even though it takes more effort, I now peel tomatoes and other soft fruit w/o blanching after watching Jacque Peppin demonstrate on his show. I always felt that blanching no matter how briefly changed the flavor profile of said fruit.

Opinions of Italian food are countless...however one thing you can count on are most of the recipes and more important the concept of Italian Cusine that Marcella incorporates in her book, in my humble opinion she is the best and its up to you to adjust and adapt for your own taste from the basics of any good recipe...btw Italians are the best farmers and best cooks on the planet! Ha! La Dolce Vita Cleveland Ohio!

Call this sacrilege, but I love to blend this sauce with cream and eat it as tomato soup. It's astounding.

So simple and so easy! I've made this with fresh tomatoes in summer, canned tomatoes when fresh are out of season. Have had it on meatballs and on pasta. With regard to the onion (to leave in or toss) I toss half the onion and puree the other half into the sauce.

To me, this sauce tastes like canned, Chef Boy-are-dee spaghetti sauce. They certainly don't use it in Venice. I learned to cook Italian from Marcella Hazan, but this sauce is simply a mistake.

I'm sorry Marcella, maybe it's a Northern thing, but my Nana was from Naples and I learned to love food by watching her cook and the thought of butter in my tomato sauce sounds so gross! I will maybe have to try it and see if I am wrong but to me olive oil is the only way to go in a red sauce.

butter in a tomato sauce!? take off the onion!? this woman is not italian !! she don't cook as an italian anyway !! use oil and fry the onion...i can't believe you spend money to attend a class in Venice and learn to do this.,.,

I attended a class in Venice taught by Marcella (with wine by her husband, Victor). She used to peel all the vegetables like red peppers with a peeler- don't recall if that held true for the tomatoes in her sauce. I know I bought a food mill down the street from her flat so maybe that is how we did it. This brought back great memories. sorry she is gone!

Should the butter be salted or unsalted??

I make this with frozen whole tomatoes from our garden. The skins peel off easily under warm running water. And they still taste like summer!

SOOO simple, SOOO delicious! I am however wondering if it is really necessary to put as much butter.. I will try with half the butter portion next time!

When it says "with their juice" for canned tomatoes, does that mean dump in all the puree that's in the can or just the juice that is in the tomatoes themselves?

I love this recipe! If you don't have a food mill, I cut the tomatoes in half and use a grater on the cut side. The largest side of the grater gets you a nice consistency and leaves you with the tomato skin. It really cuts down on prep time!

This recipe appeared in the Chicago Tribune on 9/17/14 and it was so simple and I had SO many plum tomatoes ripened from the garden vines that it was a GOTO. I halved the recipe and cooked in a 2 qt. saucepan. Richened and became more flavorful with each bite. I heated up some Trader Joe's meatballs for the side and realized that we had forgotten about them as we ate. Five stars!

I made the recipe yesterday for a dinner party - I used two 28 oz cans of crushed Italian Plum Tomatoes for 6 adult eaters - added 1 tbs of sugar, 2 bay leaves and after cooking, cut up the onions and left them in the sauce. Tossed it with linguine and served with sides of meatballs and sweet Italian sausages. It was very good, probably a little lighter/creamier than I normally like. I believe the onions made it better). And while none of us had ever made it or knowingly ate it before - it did have a familiar taste - leading us to conclude, given its popularity, we may have had it before at a restaurant. ??? Because it is so easy and tasty I will definitely make it again.

Wonderful recipe. Simple yet delicious and it goes well with grilled eggplants.

Wow I can't wait to try this! My husband is Italian and misses his Moms sauce so I'm gonna give it a shot. Not being the best chef (there's a couple things I've mastered) this sounds way easy for me to make and possibly impress my hubby and maybe even some dinner guests :) I love the fact that you can use can or fresh tomatoes too. Also we both hate onions so nice to see you take it out after.

I made this sauce recently with fresh garden tomatoes, decreasing the butter slightly. It was waiting in the fridge when I harvested three Asian eggplants (about a foot long each and a little over an inch thick.) I sautéed the sliced eggplants (half-inch slices) with a little garlic in olive oil, then stirred in the Marcella tomato sauce and some cooked whole wheat penne. Topped it with some grated parmegianno cheese. Didn't take the time to add chopped herbs, but they would have been welcome. I don't think it's "too early" for this.

So is the onion ruined in the process? I am finally going to try this but have always wondered if discarding the onion is a must or if I can chop it and use it in this or another recipe after simmering. Thanks!

Wow - what an amazingly simple pasta to make, so rewarding and flavourful. I decided to make this because it looked super easy and it was essentially a pantry dish and I'm just blown away by both the ease and the impact. Definitely going to become a regular in our eating.

I LOVE this tomato sauce. It doesn't require much but it's rich and flavourful. This was the first thing I made from Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking! A real keeper. I make a big batch and freeze some for a busy day. I tear some basil and sprinkle it over the top once I've spooned the sauce over the pasta.

I dice up the onion and cook and serve it in the sauce. I also use canned cherry tomatoes from Italy {La Valle brand} and they're exquisite in this. A bay leaf is good, too.

Simply elegant.

I made this sauce twice in one week because it's so good. I used canned tomatoes, but I'd like to try it with fresh ripe ones as well. Try it over gnocchi, like she recommended in her book. Delicious!

I don't know how in the world it took me this long to decide to make this sauce I've been hearing about for years. It probably has something to do with the fact that I often don't like butter in savory foods (I know, I know). BUT this is such a revelation. I get it now and will never be the same.

There is no substitute for canned San Marzano tomatoes. Sure they cost more but with only a few ingredients it's worth the trouble. I make my sauce with 2 ea 28 oz cans of the tomatoes and half a rack of baby back ribs. Yum. Take meat off bones before serving.

Would this recipe be appropriate for canning? I will hopefully have a garden full of tomatoes this summer.

This is, indeed, a genius recipe. Uncuous, deep, and full of flavor. It was ready in as much time as it took me to boil and cook the pasta. I did manhandle it a bit in the cooking to aid in the tomato breakdown. Reheated for lunch the next day was wonderful.

I made this two days ago and am reheating it for dinner tonight. I
liked the taste, but was disappointed in the Muir Glen Organic tomatoes. Lots of hard stem end pcs, and many bits of tomato did not cook up soft in spite of simmering about 2-2 1/2 hours (to get the consistency I wanted-I know it was only supposed to be 45 mins.)! I'll look for the San Marzio (or whatever they are!), next time I'm in "the city". I used the diced tomatoes-maybe the whole ones would have been better?
It is a versatile sauce, love the creaminess which reminded me of a vodka sauce; could add whatever spices you wanted at the end. I did add two large cloves of garlic to mine, but don't really taste garlic.
I am not Italian, but we had a very close family friend whose parents were born and raised there and her sauce from "the old country" didn't have spices in it either. She said they added them at the table. It did, however have about 5 pounds of beef and pork roast simmered in it and it was wonderful! I think recipes and techniques differ greatly from region to region in Italy. I don't remember which region they were from...
Thanks for all the answers to my questions here!!

I've been making this sauce ever since Yahoo featured the recipe as "The Easiest Pasta Sauce Ever" or something like that. Back then I was surprised at the number of commenters who hadn't even tried the recipe, but were outraged that it was called "Italian" or "gravy" because it lacked the garlic, meat, spices, or whatever it is they felt "real" Italian sauce must have. I did a little research and found out that this simple recipe has been made in Italy for generations, using either a whole onion or whole garlic, or both.

I also read that the reason for removing the onion and/or garlic is because onions, like garlic and other vegetables in the Allium genus, are not digested in the stomach but rather in the intestines and can cause bloating, which is why many chefs cook with the onions and garlic whole, but then remove them before serving so that their guests don't feel bloated afterwards.

As to the debate over what constitutes "authentic" Italian gravy, my answer is chi se ne frega (who cares?). For heavy cheese dishes like lasagna, manicotti, etc. I like a rich, hearty sauce. But for a lighter meal, this bright flavorful TOMATO sauce that's all about the tomatoes, served over delicate angel-hair pasta with a handful of fresh tender basil leaves is Heaven on a plate.

PS. After America's Test Kitchen chose Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes as their #1 canned tomatoes, I tried them in this recipe instead of my usual San Marzano DOPs and surprisingly the whole family prefers the Muir Glen.

Oh, and forgot, Debbie, this sauce doesn't need to simmer "for hours" I typically let it go for an hour or a bit less.

Debbie, yes a medium yellow onion is best, as I've tried it with both white and vidalia and it wasn't as good. Medium onion is larger than the size of a lemon, maybe baseball size, but not softball size. Also, I prefer salted butter to unsalted in this recipe.

The best thing about this sauce is that it really tastes like fresh tomatoes from my garden. Like a bit of summer sunshine in my mouth. I had some last night that I made last summer and froze. It was just so good.

I bought the tomatoes to try this recipe tomorrow/ Can't wait to taste it!! I would never have tried it with no seasonings without all the rave reviews. One question-since I have an electric stove it is hard to let anything simmer for hours, even stirring occasionally. Would it work to let it cook in a crock pot (uncovered)? OK, 2 questions! Medium YELLOW onion? Would that be about the size of a lemon? Bigger? Smaller? I'm sure proportion is important in this recipe! Thank you!! (BTW, I was surprised to see this recipe since the only other time I've seen it was in a fiction book I read a year or so ago in which the main character made exactly this-with canned tomatoes- and I thought it sounded much too plain to be a real recipe or very good!)

All previous commenters who described this sauce as something along the lines of Chef Boyardee--you seriously need to give this another shot! I made this sauce yesterday to rave reviews of anyone that I could share it with--I even called my neighbor to come over and try it and, despite having just finished a large meal herself, couldn't resist cleaning the bowl. So good, and so simple!

I admit that I was also skeptical of the goodness of this sauce after reading the recipe. Something to the effect of "that's it?!" for sure sprung to mind. However, this sauce is as delicious and soul-soothing as it is simple; super comforting, lovely and delicious. It's for sure a rich sauce--with flavor and attitude of a cream sauce, while maintaining the tomato texture and flavor that is just so good. Personally, I prefer things on the lighter side, so I could even do without some of the butter, but if you are one for cream sauces (as I tend not to be), then the required amount should be perfect! I'm getting hungry just talking about it and wish there was more to return home to! Which is another thing, if you want a lot of sauce or leftovers, I would for sure double the recipe. This probably fed 4 at most. Highly recommended, everyone should try this delightful recipe!

Made this twice. First with regular butter (land o lakes). Came out greasy and oily. The second time we used imported italian butter and Good imported canned tomatoes and it came out delicious. Seems this recipe is only as good as the ingredients. Now we make it all the time.

I use this recipe for pizza sauce! I cook it down until it's thick and creamy and the tomato flavor is so intense! I used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes that I had in the pantry. A little goes a long way on pizza and since I make and keep pizza dough in the fridge ready to go, this sauce is great to keep on hand for quick go to meals. I love pizza. :)

I am making this again now. The reason why this is such a popular sauce is because of it's simplicity, like all good recipes and sauces. The key, of course, is good quality ingredients. I add 2 cloves of garlic and throw them into the pot with the onion. This is a basic sauce to be enjoyed on it's own, or as a base for other ingredients. In my case today, with some mushrooms and fresh basil. Just cook it on a very low simmer for as long as possible. It will thicken and sweeten. Delicious!

Someone please tell me why this is so great. I'm a big lover of rich, meaty-tasting, hearty tomato sauces. With lots of garlic, not just onions. And mushrooms. And herbs like bay & oregano. In reading this recipe, my gustatory response is: ewww, weak, watery, thin. So someone please tell me why I should try this!

So easy and delicious, I found myself eating it straight from the saucepan with a spoon.

Before I add my personal insight, I wanted to say that I had a 28oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes with juice, from which I had previously used a 1/2 cup from - This amount of "leftovers" was perfect for the recipe, and was actually around 2 cups when measured out.

My review - amazing, divine, groan-worthy. I was SUPER skeptical of this for the shear fact that it seemed TOO easy, TOO basic - I mean, c'mon now - only FOUR of the most basic ingredients and I don't even have to dice the onion? How could it be THAT good?

Well, it is. I can't stop licking the sauce pot. I want to eat pasta every night just to make this sauce. I want to bake a baguette right now and make that our dinner tonight - bread dipped in sauce with some wine.

EVERYONE ON FOOD52 - if you haven't made this, MAKE IT TONIGHT.

When using canned tomatoes, this recipe calls for 2 cups - but a 28 oz can is about 3 cups. I also notice other websites say to use a 28 oz can. So I'm curious for those making this recipe using a 28 oz can of tomatoes - do you stick with the 5 Tbs butter, one onion, or do you up the butter and onion by 50%?

I made this recipe and kept trying to figure out what its aroma reminded me of. Sorry to say it was the smell of Chef Boyardee ravioli in the can. It didn't taste bad, but the smell was too much to take. (And I had such high hopes.)

Made this tonight with late season fresh beefsteak tomatoes (4), regular unsalted butter and a yellow onion. It was fantastic tossed with fresh tomato tagliatelle.

One follow-up to my previous comment. When using canned tomatoes, sometimes there is metallic taste so I add a little honey to get rid of it. About a tablespoon or so and that usually works.

Normally, when I make this recipe I use Fresh Plum tomatoes and the sauce turns out to have a naturally sweet flavor which is wonderful. This weekend, I used canned whole tomatoes (28 oz), generic store brand plum tomatoes and while the sauce turned out well. It doesn't have the same natural sweetness as the sauce would have with fresh plum tomatoes. I'm going to be testing various types of canned tomatoes just to see how it turns out. The recipe is still Wonderful!

I first made this sauce a year ago after finding it on this website. I was stunned and so excited about Marcella Hazan that I ordered 2 of her cookbooks. Every single thing I make from them is just as delicious as this sauce. She is also hilarious and does not know it. I heard she recently passed away. I feel like I've lost a member of the family.

Just made this the other night with fresh pasta. It was divine!

I hope this recipe multiplies out ok! I just took EIGHT lbs of green-picked tomatoes--which all ripened in my living room--they were red and tasted ok though about 1/4 of them were mealy because of the frost that make me pick them in the first place. I crammed them all into a dutch oven. It's pretty full! This is my 3rd and last batch of sauce using these indoor-ripened tomatoes. The first two batches turned out fine, but not made with this recipe. Certainly a lot better than letting them all go to waste. Making fresh homegrown tomato sauce during Halloween week! Amazing

28 oz is just over 3 cups. Looked elsewhere on the web and everywhere this recipe is listed, it's the same -- 2 cups or a 28 oz. can. I expect this recipe to be tolerant of variations but 28 vs 16 oz is a very big change.

. I am making it right now using a 28 oz can of Muir Glen whole tomatoes. I'll let you know.

High quality ingredients, simply prepared made this delicious. I used Muir Glen tomatoes, Presidente butter, and a farmers market red tomato. No need of peppers, mushrooms, celery, or

I put the quartered tomatoes, sliced bell pepper, sliced onion, 3 or 4 garlic cloves and a stalk of celery on a foil lined cookie sheet. I gently sprayed them with olive oil spray and sprinkled on the sea salt....roasted for about 30 @ 350-375. After it cooled to touch, I pulled the skin off the tomatoes and squeezed the seeds out and put the tomatoes and veggies ( minus the celery) in a blender. Then I put this mixture in the freezer in one and two cup containers. I just added what "looked" right to me....about 10 tomatoes, a small onion, a little garlic and a bell pepper, a stalk of celery sliced. After I removed the veggies, I strained the juice left on the cookie sheet and froze it separately for the dishes that need extra moisture. I use this in taco soup, veggie soup, casseroles, pasta sauce...almost anything.. It just seems that the flavors pop so much more from the roasting. I even added a little jalapeno and fresh cilantro and lime juice to the blended goodness and made a quick salsa!!!

I would like to add a separate recommendation to my comments below: Although I've never been a fan of commercially prepared tomato sauces, the "Gia Russa" brand of tomato products such as their Marinara Sauce, and their Tomato & Basil sauce (unsalted) are excellent. Because you can actually taste the tomatoes! And they're consistent. You may even be tempted to give up cooking tomato sauce from scratch altogether - except when having company (which is a rare occasion around my house. Most of the time it's just me and my discriminating cat).

This recipe is wonderful. So simple and very easy to make and very delicious tasting. It's perfect for making at night after getting home from work because you do not have to watch it too closely. Of course you have to watch it a little but not too much. I have tried this with simple whole tomatoes at the supermarket. It turned out well.

Problem: I haven't found a good canned [plum, etc] tomato since Progresso went out of business. And forget fresh, since the supermarkets and roadside stands around here wouldn't know good tomato if it jumped up and bit them. Therefore, any 'specific' suggestions (ie brands) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

very good..

just tried this and i think it taste great. i did however also leave in the onions. My boyfriend wanted it sweeter so i split the batch and added a little sugar to his half. we will see which one will taste better on pasta! thank you again for the recipe.

I have made this a few times with tomatoes from our garden. I dont blanch and skin tomato or remove onion at end. I just quarter tomato and toss all ingredients in pot together. Cook down then blend with a stick blender. Once cool, pack in mason jars and freeze. Easy peezy and delicious.

My son is named hazan so it's to my likeing !!

Not trying to be picky but blanching is not boiling the tomatoes and letting them cool down to touch. Blanching would be to boil the immediately place them in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Just made this for dinner and it is incredible. The taste is fresh and uncomplicated! Love it!

Will a butter sauce can well? I'd like to try to make some sauce to can with extra tomatoes. Does anyone have experience canning this sauce?

I love onions in so many ways that when I remove it from the sauce I cut it up and eat it. So yummy with the sauce on it.

I usually process it and throw it in something like bbq sauce. I don't put it back into the sauce since I really love the purity of the tomato and butter with just the hint of onion.

Does anyone have any idea for what to do with the onion afterwards? Does it lose all the flavor in the cooking process or is there something delicious to make with it?

After making this, I froze 4 small portions (cup) together with 4 pizza dough balls - now when I have to work long hours, I just put them out in the morning and when I come home all I have to do is lather the dough with the sauce and add some veggies/stuff from the fridge, and dinner is ready in less than 20min!

I think this is more of an ad lib thing. I am doing it this morning with about 2.5 lbs of fresh, a combination of grapes, heirlooms and a few romas from the CSA box last week (the new box comes today!) so I will use a smidge more butter and a med sized onion. BTW - this freezes beautifully.

I just made with a 28 oz can of tomatoes. Quite amazing!

Sounds simple and delicious. Question about quantity of tomatoes--2 cups canned would be 1 pound, so would 2 pounds fresh be closer to 4 cups? or is this more of an ad lib recipe?

Looks amazing.

Technically you shouldn't keep it more than 3 days, but I am sure properly refrigerated it would last a week.

Does anyone have any idea about how long this can be stored once made? With the butter added I wasn't sure.

This is a fantastic recipe - and the whole point of it IS the unctuousness you get from the butter, the length of cooking and the slight bit of onion. My opinion is that substituting olive oil is fine, but that is an altogether different flavor. It is still quite good, and when I don't want such as rich sauce, that is what I do - make a normal marinara using olive oil and Marcella's technique.

See my earlier post on what I do with the onions - puree and use in a BBQ sauce - some of the Marcella sauce, the pureed onion, some garlic, a handfull of raisins, and Worcestershire.....simmer until thick and use on chicken or even burgers......

Is there a substitute for the butter? I really like the simplicity of this recipe but I'd prefer to not use as much butter.

This sounds wonderful and so simple. The only problem for me will be to discard the onion... I love onions!

Francis Ford Coppola has published his family's no-garlic spaghetti sauce, and while it does have basil, and olive oil, it is finished with a lump of butter, which does add richness. I'll try this one. I also recommend M. Hazan's meatball recipe, from her first cookbook. Really, really good.

Thats not gravy thats ketchup! Missing garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary and olive oil

Last night I used the last of this sauce that I made in the summer. It was still delicious. Yesterday I also planted my tomatoes so in a few months I can make more.

I use olive oil for almost everything, but I don't think this particular recipe will be as good if it does not have butter. Perhaps do half and half.

Looks and sounds good! But instead of butter, try olive oil!

Looks and sounds good!But instead of using butter, try olive oil!

I absolutely love this sauce. Be sure to seed the tomatoes to help w/acidity issues. Quality of both canned tomato and butter can make a difference too. Taste your canned tomatoes before using. I find if using canned tomatoes, whole tomatoes definitely work best and kate's unsalted butter, or most european unsalted butters add a really nice flavor.

After seeing all the praise for this recipe, I finally made it over the weekend. I will never make any other tomato sauce again - the flavor of this recipe is amazing for so few ingredients. I could have stood over the pot and eaten the whole thing with a spoon! Will definitely double the recipe next time-

I made Marcella Hazan's sauce once in a Calphalon pot and it completely removed the finish from the inside of the pot. The combination of high acidity and long cooking did it.

Lovely simple tomato sauce for lighter summer dishes. My house smelled amazing while I cooked it.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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? :(

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.

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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.

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!

This is THE BEST tomato sauce I have ever made, or even ever had! I have used it in all kinds of pasta recipes since I found this recipe.
By the way, I have tried to tell so many people about it, but I'm usually treated with skepticism. Oh well, my secret, their loss!!!

This is THE BEST tomato sauce I have ever made, or even ever had! I have used it in all kinds of pasta recipes since I found this recipe.
By the way, I have tried to tell so many people about it, but I'm usually treated with skepticism. Oh well, my secret, their losst!!!!

I was amazed at how delicious this was. The butter really makes this tasty. Plus it was so easy. I typically need sauces to be packed with flavor (to this end, I typically add peppers, chili flakes, generous amounts of garlic, or sausages) but this sauce is great on its own. A recipe to be repeated.

I made this a few months ago with tomatoes from our garden and I can honestly say it was the best tomato sauce I have ever tasted. I ate about three-fourths of the sauce with a spoon before it even hit the pasta. It is that good!

Today I had the great good fortune to buy local organic tomatoes for 75 cents a pound. I made Marcella's sauce in a triple batch, and I must say the aroma was heavenly. I cooked as directed, using the hot water skin peeling method, and allowed the sauce to cool before I froze it. I saved a little for dinner tonight, though. Just a wonderful recipe to know and use for the freshest cooked sauce possible.

Everytime I make this, my husband complains that it tastes like "refined Spaghetti Os." He's right; there is something "American Italian" about the taste.Just saying.

Every time I make this, my husband complains that it doesn't "taste Italian"; rather "like a refined can of Spaghetti Os"! It's true that the flavor is the one associated with American spaghetti. Good, but. . . . Maybe it would taste more Italian if it were made with fresh tomatoes from a market in Italy. Just saying.

Every time I make this, my husband complains that it doesn't "taste Italian"; rather "like a refined can of Spaghetti Os"! It's true that the flavor is the one associated with American spaghetti. Good, but. . . . Maybe it would taste more Italian if it were made with fresh tomatoes from a market in Italy. Just saying.

I made this yesterday. The tomatoes here are suffering for the heat and drought but I used fresh - I wonder if this made it thin. I also added a half a shallot. After cooking, I put everything in the pot through the food mill to make a silky smooth texture - served it on ravioli. This is a keeper recipe - delicate and compelling flavors. It reminds me of the sauce my dad would put on stuffed cabbage rolls, so that's what I plan to try it on when the fall comes around (in Nov).

Sublime.

Just finished a piping hot bowl of spaghetti, to which I made and added this sauce,(included a little bit of the onion - finely chopped) and some finely sliced courgettes and topped it off with lashing of fresh parmesan. Although next time am going to try with plum rather than the mix of tomatoes I happened to have in the kitchen. It was almost as good as my Nonna's ;). Delicious!

Just made this and wasn't even planning on pasta for dinner -- it sounded that good. And it was. The tomatoes were so-so but the butter really makes this sauce sing. Definitely a go-to recipe.
More genius recipes, please!

I gilded the lily and toss in a piece of Pecorino Romano rind while it was simmering. I also diced the wilted onion and added it back to the sauce. Freezes beautifully and can be the basis for anything. Great to give it away with fresh pasta and basil in a basket!

After making this sauce over the weekend, I fully understand all of the hype. It's outstanding -- by far the best tomato sauce I've ever made or eaten. So glad you highlighted it here, Kristen.

Was a little nervous about the sauce due to the lack of ingredients, but it turned out so flavorful! Like others have suggested, don't substitute oil for butter and don't toss out the onion either! This recipe will be one I'll turn to often with all the tomatoes I have ripening!

Made this last night for the first time, and I honestly can't believe how good it is. I will be spreading the word!

We have been making this for years. It's a great winter sauce, when fresh herbs aren't available. I always discard the onion. I'm not a fan of its slimy texture. Try it with potato gnocchi and parmesan cheese. It's heavenly.

I made this for the first time last night. WOW! I made Italian meatballs and pasta to go with it. (And, yes, I saved some of the onion and served that with it.) A HUGE HIT!

I've never made this recipe but it sounds wonderful. Just a few simple but powerful ingredients. I'm definitely going to try this.

My grandmother use to make homemade chicken soup and do the same thing with an onion.. She'd put the whole onion in though and then remove it just before serving.

Canned San Marzano (D.O.P.) tomatoes are excellent tomatoes for this (or any other) sauce. Several brands market them, Cento, for example. They are pricey but worth every penny.

I made this on Saturday and we loved it. I served it with sauteed eggplant, veal and pasta. Terrific. But the real surprise came when I was making a new bbq sauce. I had the onion and about 1 cup of the Marcella Sauce left over. I needed 2 cups of tomato sauce (plus ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar (I used fig balsamic), herbs and spices. So, I dumped the Marcella sauce and a cup of fresh tomato from my garden (peeled and chopped) into the food processor and blended it together. Then I simmered it with the other ingredients for about an hour. Oh my. Oh my. Really good BBQ sauce! And I didn't waste that onion!

Can't believe I'm so late to the table with this recipe, but can't wait to make. BTW, her spaghetti carbonara is TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!

Made this today and it was absolutely fabulous. I fried some thick rings of lightly breaded eggplant so they were a little crispy (see the new Bon Appetit for tips on how to do this), grated a little cheese on top, and topped it all of with this sauce. To die for. Perfect Sunday dinner. Thanks for sharing this one!

I love this sauce! I've been making it for years. However, instead of the halved onion that gets discarded, I dice up the onion before cooking it with the tomatoes and leave it in the sauce.

Such good news!!! I have gobs of cherry tomatoes (whole) in the freezer to fix into sauce and "preserve". This will be perfect!!! Thanks so much!

I made this last night with some whole wheat pasta and it was great.The only problem
Was it was so good I went back for seconds.