Marcella's Miracle Tomato and Butter Sauce

Adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan (Knopf, 1992)

Italians sauce pasta lightly, so — according to Marcella — this is enough for 1 pound of pasta, serving 6. However, we always end up eating all of it even when I’m making less pasta than that, which I usually am.

This is Marcella’s iconic, and arguably best, tomato sauce. It’s the sauce that made her famous, basically because it is a miracle — so much more than the sum of its very simple parts. If you use excellent butter and from-Italy Italian tomatoes, it’s so delicious you may find yourself wanting to eat it straight from the pan. I think putting the tomatoes through a food mill elevates the sauce from good to great, so that’s what I always do.

It is good on any shape. I like it on rigatoni and mezzi rigatoni,  but my favorite is Faella penne lisce, penne without ridges. It doesn’t hold the sauce as well as penne rigate, but it has a silky in the mouth, which works especially well with this elegant sauce.

1 400g can Italian peeled plum tomatoes
5 tablespoons butter (don’t skimp here)
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half

Added at the end:

Salt to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Put the tomatoes through the smallest holes of the food mill directly into a saucepan. I use a 3-quart saucier.

Add the butter — ALL 5 tablespoons — and the onion halves. Simmer uncovered over low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly or the butter separates from the tomato.

Add salt right before serving; if you add it earlier, you may add more than you need because the sauce reduces as it cooks. Keep in mind that you will also be adding cheese, which is salty.

Discard the onion. Toss the sauce with the pasta, add Parmigiano-Reggiano, and toss again. I add the cheese before serving, but you can also pass it at the table.