Simple Tomato Sauce

This magical three ingredient tomato sauce delivers fresh, bright tomato flavor with pantry staples.

I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that just like with chili there are different camps of people who insist that one tomato sauce is better than another. There are meat sauce fans, sweet sauce fans, thick sauce fans, spicy sauce fans…and then there are fresh sauce fans like me.

I like the bright, fresh, almost acidic flavor of a good Italian tomato sauce but those flavors are hard to capture in a shelf stable jarred sauce from the store.

This genius sauce, though, delivers on the fresh flavor but sneakily uses kitchen staples: canned whole tomatoes, butter, and onion.

The true delight of the sauce for me is how easily it comes together. No dicing or sautéing here. Instead you squish the whole canned tomatoes in your hands and then throw them into a medium saucepan with the juices from the can. Then, you add in butter and a halved onion. Prep work, done!

Then just simmer the ingredients over low heat for about 45 minutes and toss with your favorite noodles for what I like to call a “mindless meal.” It’s a new concept I’m working on. Roughly translated, it’s a meal that you don’t have to put a lot of mental thought into. You know, no measuring, not a lot of ingredients, or intricate steps. So you can make a nice meal even after a rough day that drained all of your mental acuity.

But back to the Tomato Sauce….let’s make it!

Simple Tomato Sauce

• Author: Katelyn Masters
• Prep Time: 2 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 47 minutes
• Yield: 3 servings 1x
• Category: dinner
• Cuisine: italian

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Description

This magical three ingredient tomato sauce delivers fresh, bright tomato flavor with pantry staples.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1–28oz can whole tomatoes
• 7 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, peeled and thick sliced

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Instructions

1. Pour the can of tomatoes with their juice into a medium saucepan and squish the tomatoes with your hands to make little tomato chunks.
2. Add in the butter and onion and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer then cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until desired thickness.
3. Meanwhile, prepare about a pound of pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
4. Remove sauce from heat, season to taste with salt and toss with cooked pasta. Serve with plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

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Notes

• If you prefer a good amount of sauce on your pasta, this recipe will only make enough for about 2-3 adult servings using 1/2 pound of pasta. For 4-6 servings, I double the recipe and cook a full pound of pasta.
• You can scale the butter between 5-8 tbsp per 28oz can of tomatoes.
• Be sure to play around with this recipe for extra flavor. My favorite version adds a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt, a glug of red cooking wine and a few fresh basil leaves thrown in while the sauce simmers.

Keywords: Italian, spaghetti, pasta, sauce, tomato sauce, tomatoes, easy, dinner

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