Make Ahead

Tomato Sauce with Bay Leaf andĀ Butter

May  5, 2019
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Photo by Anna Culpepper
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

A basic tomato sauce is essential for any given weeknight. I decided to take Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter off-roading and make it a little more Southern. My tomatoes aren't quite ready this year. I used canned which were a bit bitter, so I tossed in a pinch of sugar. I swapped the onions for shallots, added a bay leaf (because, always...), and made a paste of the butter with flour to thicken the sauce evenly. The flavors turned out exactly as I wanted, resulting in a rich sauce that maintains its quick, go-to status. —Anna Culpepper

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Ingredients
  • 1 28 ounce can Italian tomatoes
  • 2 large shallots, cut in half
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 heaping pinch of sugar
Directions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 385 degrees. Pour one can of tomatoes into a dutch oven on the stove-top over medium high heat. Add sugar, bay leaf, and shallot to the pot. Salt to taste.
  2. Place the room-temperature butter on a plate and top with the flour. Using the back end of a spoon, mash the flour into the butter until you form a consistent paste.
  3. Add the butter mixture to the dutch oven and stir. Once all the butter has melted, allow sauce to simmer and transfer to the oven for 35-45 minutes.
  4. Serve over pasta of your choice. Top with pecorino romano and roasted garlic.

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