This sauce is a legendary recipe from Italian cooking goddess Marcella Hazan. It was introduced to me by another cooking goddess, my friend Liz Calderon. I was amazed by how easy it was to make and how singular the flavor was. I have made it a billion times since, and am still blown away by it every time. 3 simple ingredients. Barely any effort. Endless (and delicious) pay-off.
Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce
What You’ll Need
Scale
- 1 Stick high quality butter
- 1 28oz can of tomato puree, San Marzano if possible
- 1 large onion, halved
- 1 lb. pasta
- Grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
What You’ll Do
- Take a small saucepan and submerge your onion halves and butter into the tomato puree (bonus points if you create a smiley face out of them).
- Place the saucepan on the stove and simmer on medium-high for about 5 minutes. The butter will start to melt and you’ll smell the onion cooking.
- Here is the easiest yet hardest part: Lower your heat as low as it goes, step away from the stove, and leave your pot UNCOVERED alone for the next hour to hour and a half. Do. Not. Stir during this time. Literally, don’t even touch the pan. Pretend it never happened. When the contents of the pan look like picture 5 & 6 below, we have reached Tomato Butter Sauce Nirvana.
- Remove the pan from stove, and grab a bowl, a whisk, and some tongs. Gently remove the onion halves and set aside safely in a bowl to do one of the following with latter:
- Eat as is.
- Chop up into a relish and serve with meat.
- Chop up and serve on toast with ricotta or other cheese.
- Throw them into a vegetable soup.
- Blend part of them back into the Tomato Butter Sauce, which many people do, but I do not!
- Grab your whisk and mix the tomato puree, clarified butter, and delicious memory of onion together until 3 become 1.
- And there she is—our perfect tomato sauce with a flavor unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. Serve over orrechiette or rigatoni with a sprinkle of grated pecorino or parmesan, and prepare to become obsessed.
- Side note: I typically don’t put any fresh herbs on top. It doesn’t need it. Also, if I want meat with this meal, I cook it separately and serve it on the side. More often that not, I choose onion option 2 and make a relish for said meat, and it’s perfection.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (2) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (2)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/badge-lets_go_girls-red.png)
Make It Step By Step With Me:
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (3) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (3)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-1-scaled.webp)
1. Your holy trinity: 1 stick high quality butter, 1 28oz can of tomato puree and 1 large onion, halved
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (4) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (4)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-2-scaled.webp)
2. In a small sauce pan, submerge your onion halves and butter in the tomato puree. Obviously create a face. We always are making faces with food here at GrossyPelosi.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (5) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (5)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-3-scaled.webp)
3. Place pan on stove and simmer on medium high for about 5 minutes. The butter will start to melt and you will start to smell the onion cooking.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (6) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (6)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-4-scaled.webp)
4. Here is the easiest and hardest part: Lower your heat to its lowest setting, step away from the stove, and leave your pot (UNCOVERED) for an hour to hour and a half. DO NOT STIR. Honestly, don’t even touch. When the contents of the pan look like this, we have reached Tomato Butter Sauce Nirvana.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (7) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (7)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-5-scaled.webp)
5. Remove pot from stove. Grab a bowl, a whisk and some tongs.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (8) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (8)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-6-scaled.webp)
6. Gently remove the onion halves and place in bowl and set aside.
There are so many things you can do this with delicious onion. Here are a few:
- Eat it as-is.
- Chop it up into a relish and serve with meat.
- Chop it up and serve it on toast with ricotta or other cheese.
- Throw it into a vegetable soup.
- Blend part of it back into the Tomato Butter Sauce. Many people do this, I do not!
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (9) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (9)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-7-scaled.webp)
7. Grab your whisk and mix the tomato puree, clarified butter, and delicious memory of onion together until 3 become 1.
![Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (10) Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Sauce Recipe | Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi (10)](https://i0.wp.com/danpelosi.com/wp-content/uploads/Marcella-Hazans-Tomato-Butter-Sauce-step-8-scaled.webp)
8. And there she is—our perfect tomato sauce with a flavor unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. Serve over orrechiette or rigatoni with a sprinkle of grated pecorino or parmesan, and prepare to become obsessed.
Side note: I typically don’t put any fresh herbs on top. It doesn’t need it. Also, if I want meat with this meal, I cook it separately and serve it on the side. More often that not, I choose onion option 2 and make a relish for said meat, and it’s perfection.
Enjoy!