We’re having an Indian summer here in Southern Utah, and I’ve just come in from the backyard with a bowl of fresh tomatoes.
For twenty years I’ve used the same recipe for tomato based pasta sauce. It comes from my favorite cookbook of all time, The Beautiful Cookbook: Provence. The recipe has the traditional garlic, fresh tomato, Greek olives, and that very Mediterranean addition, anchovies. When I grew up, our family pasta sauce was a complex wonder made with veggies, wine and ground beef that was stewed for hours and days.
Today I’m not giving you either of these, but rather a newly discovered pasta sauce (NYTimes) that is so rich, velvety, and classic. I’ve tried it a couple times now, and the taste lingers. Made simply with onion and butter and no garlic, the sauce comes from Marcella Hazan, the doyenne of Italian cuisine who brought Italian cooking to many Americans. Canned tomatoes work fine and don’t hesitate with the butter. (I remember my grandmother putting in a huge pat of butter in each bowl of tomato soup as she served it.)
INGREDIENTS
2 cups tomatoes, in addition to their juices (for example, a 28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes)
5 tablespoons butter
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt
PREPARATION
Step 1
Combine the tomatoes and their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt.
Step 2
Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with a spoon. Add salt as needed.
Step 3
Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with pasta. This recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta.
PAIRING
I typically go with a Nebbiolo with my garlic pasta sauce. This is different. It needs a wine from further south. Chianti is perfect. Pull out the good Chianti for this.