Marcella Hazan's 'Tomato Sauce III'

EDITORS NOTE: While I have included this recipe as written by Hazan herself, please review my notes at the end for some advice since most people do not own a food mill in 2025

This is the simplest and freshest of all tomato sauces. It has no vegetables, except an onion. The onion is not sautéed, it is not chopped, it is only cut in two and cooked together with the tomato. Except for salt and a tiny amount of sugar, the sauce has no seasonings. It has no olive oil, only butter. What does it have? Pure, sweet tomato taste, at its most appealing. It is an unsurpassed sauce for potato gnocchi, and it is excellent with spaghetti, penne, and ziti.

Ingredients

• 2 Lbs. Fresh, ripe plum tomatoes
• 1/4 Lb (one stick) butter
• 1 Medium onion, peeled and halved
• Salt, to taste
• 1/4 tsp sugar

Steps

1. Wash the tomatoes in cold water. Cut them in half, length-wise. Cook in a covered stockpot or saucepan until they have simmered for 10 minutes.

2. Purée the tomatoes through a food mill back into the pot. Add the butter, onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and sugar and cook at a slow but steady simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion.

Notes

Instead of simmering the tomatoes to a pulp and then running them through a food mill, I suggest putting a box grater in a large bowl, and grate the tomatoes against the large holes. I find that this works equally as well for this sauce and saves significant time. If you make this correction, I recommend simmering instead for a whole hour rather than the recommended 45 minutes.

Also, do not feel like you need to stick with plum tomatoes. I often use a variety of heirloom tomatoes and slicer tomatoes to make this recipe and it is lovely.