Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce
Updated Aug. 5, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2cups tomatoes, in addition to their juices (for example, a 28-ounce can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes)
- 5tablespoons butter
- 1onion, peeled and cut in half
- Salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
153 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 287 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the tomatoes, 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.
Private Notes
Comments
Such endless tinkering! My daughter turned me on to this. She said that its simplicity allows the primary ingredients--the tomatoes and the pasta--to shine. The onion is a whisper, not a shout (or, God forbid, a partner with garlic in a mugging). The butter, astonishingly, adds an unctuousness, a luxurious velvety taste and feel that perfectly complement the tomatoes.
If anyone else had told me this, I would have reached for my herb garden, the olive oil. But I trust her, and she was right.
The recipe from the first edition of The Classic Italian Cookbook (1973) calls for 2 lbs of tomatoes, 1/4 lb butter, one medium yellow onion, peeled and halved, salt and 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar. I can't imagine why the amount of butter has been reduced from 8 tablespoons to 5 tablespoons. Stick with the original.
I don't know why you would want to discard the onion. Eating it is one of the highlights of this dish!
Does anyone know if “addition to their juices”means the juices are included in the 2 cups of tomatoes or added on? A 28 oz can of tomatoes is 3 cups, which is one cup more than the recipe calls for, but do I add the whole can or just 2 cups?
think others have mentioned this over the years… The original recipe calls for 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes or 2 cups of canned. It may seem like a lot of fresh tomatoes, but they do cook down quite a bit. Marcella Hazan has a similar version that uses the same proportions but swaps in olive oil and garlic instead of butter and onion. My family really likes the garlic, but I find the onion adds so much depth and enough sweetness to soften the acidity of the tomatoes. So I started doubling the recipe and combining the two approaches:5 tablespoons of olive oil, 5 tablespoons of butter, onion and garlic. And because my kids don’t like tomato chunks, I run an immersion blender through it once the sauce has cooked down.
Both my husband and are lovers of pasta dishes and of tomato sauces. We were both a bit skeptical, but hey: who are we to argue with 15k+ 5-Star reviews?? So we made it as written, even doubling the recipe as so many recommended (2-28oz cans of imported Italian San Marzanos.) We both found this to be a very one dimensional sauce - very VERY Tomato-forward. I like it only insofar as it is a starting point to a more complex sauce, if you added herbs some spices. maybe some meat or sautéed mushrooms… but we both say we would not make it again as written. This is an improvement over jarred or canned commercial tomato sauces but not as an end point in itself. For a pasta dish, do yourself a favor and add all your traditional favorites; this is a great jumping off point, but don’t stop here.