The World’s Best (And Easiest) Tomato Sauce For Kids
Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce may well be the greatest recipe of all time–if it’s actually a “recipe.” It has ingredients and steps, of course, though barely; you can (somewhat) ignore them without compromising the final product. It is authentic and requires time to complete, in the Italian tradition; it also requires basically zero skill or attention to pull off. Practical magic, really. But you’ll be amazed how such little effort–you chop once!--leads to a product far superior to–and far preferred by your child–to the usual red sauce you get at the store.
The key here, as it is in all things, is butter. Lots of it. Shelf-stable tomato sauce is thick, often requiring a not-insignificant amount of sugar to lighten its viscosity; dropping in (almost) a stick of butter gives tomato sauce a gossamer-like mouthfeel, equal in richness to a puree but without the need for sugar. So good, so perfectly now, is it that you’ll find yourself using the sauce on just about everything you have around–not just pasta but chicken, potatoes, vegetables, et al. The proportions below will yield you plenty to freeze: we recommend separating out leftovers into individual portions–an ice cube tray is perfect for this–then freezing until needed.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep, Cook, and Assemble
- Peel onion and cut in half.
- To a medium pot, add onion halves, tomatoes and their juice, butter, and two pinches of salt; bring to a simmer, then reduce heat until just barely simmering. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. For a chunkier sauce, leave whole tomatoes intact; for a smoother sauce, crush/pulverize tomatoes with a spatula or spoon about 5-10 minutes into cooking.
- Add a spoonful of minced garlic midway; stir.
- Remove onion when ready to serve. (But eat yourself: it may be the most delicious thing in the pot!)
Serve
Spoon over everything, basically.
Adapt
Though the sauce tastes perfect as is, you can easily doctor/adapt this to taste by adding a pinch of sugar, grated cheese, and/or herbs of your choosing.
