People don’t often order the spaghetti with tomato sauce at a fancy restaurant, but when Z’s friend Diana says to, you should probably follow suit. We were too taken by the description of some other dishes and ordered pumpkin ravioli and rabbit ragu. Oops.
In all fairness, our meals were delicious, but her spaghetti and tomato sauce was divine. We have been working on our tomato sauce over the past few weeks, and although many of them have been enjoyable, we end up with too many thoughts that start “next time we will…”
What we liked about the sauce we had with Diana was its simplicity. The closest thing we’ve been able to come up with is based on a recipe by Marcella Hazan, also known for its simplicty: 3-ingredient Tomato Sauce from her cookbook Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
While out to dinner with Diana, we decided that part of what made her pasta different was that it was probably finished in a pan — dollop of sauce, 1 serving of super al-dente pasta, into a sautee pan, combined with a little butter, and served.
We made two different batches, finished them in a pan, and loved them both.
5-Ingredient Tomato Sauce
(Adapted from Marcella Hazan)
28 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 medium onion halved
5 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Jacked Up Simple Tomato Sauce
(Adapted from Marcella Hazan)
28 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 medium onion halved
5 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
The beauty of the Marcella Hazan recipe is its absurd simplicity. Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy bottom pot, cover and cooked for an hour and 20. That’s it!
We cooked pasta until it was a a few minutes away from al dente. We then put a serving’s worth of pasta, 1/2 tbsp of butter, a dash of olive oil, and a ladle-full of sauce in a sautee pan.
Incorporate and serve with or without parmesan.
The lesson here is two-fold: less is more and Diana knows best.
P.s. It is this same Diana who introduced us to Bees Knees, our favorite summer drink.
Anything would taste good with all that butter! :D How many miles do you need to run after that meal? ;)
And does the half onion disintegrate after cooking for 100 minutes? I might try THAT! Always looking for ways to be lazy.
It is 5 tbsp, but it is probably 6-8 servings of sauce! It’s not THAT bad! :D
It doesn’t disintegrate too much. We just took it right out and tossed it.
You TOSSED the onions?!?!?! Oh my!! I can tell you aren’t Depression babes… ;)
Finally, the technical term that establishes the two of you as truly accomplished chefs – dollop!
Maybe a trip to the Grotto is in order with your next trip. This is a tiny but wonderful little restaurant on the back side of Beacon Hill that is known for its spagetti and meatballs…
The B
I thought you’d like the dollop measurement! We still need to make a dictionary of all your terms! The Grotto, eh? Sounds yummy! Then again, can it beat Mom’s cooking??
Yes the Grotto is just the place for you two! I do love the simplicity of your recipe!
Thanks Mom!