Some might think its blasphemous to consider tinkering with an already flawless recipe, but, A: have you met me? And B: I couldn’t help but add a tin of anchovies here. They just marry so beautifully with the buttery tomatoes to elevate the already perfect to completely extraordinary while retaining the purest simplicity of flavour and comfort.
Basically, this recipe is everything you wanted and never knew you could achieve with less than 5 minutes prep and no more than 45 minutes of hands off cooking for simply the most magnificent sauce you will ever make.
I specify tinned peeled plum tomatoes here. And I mean it – none of those chopped ones please. And I am sharing a trick I learned a while back from a chef friend – rinse the plum tomatoes before adding them to the pan. It’s a flavour game changer and they taste like summer fresh tomatoes. I rinse them for every recipe that calls for tinned tomatoes. If you are making this during peak tomato season, you can use fresh tomatoes here, but personally I save them for other times.
Have I sold it to you yet? Here’s how to make it…….
The Only Tomato Sauce Recipe You Will Ever Need
4
servings5
minutes45
minutesThis is a riff on the famous Marcella Hazan recipe – one of those sauces that fundamentally changed our lives (and I am not being dramatic).
Ingredients
drizzle of olive oil for the bottom of the pan
1 x 50g tin anchovies (approximately 12 fillets)
2 x 400g tins peeled plum tomatoes
1 onion (large banana shallot or medium yellow onion)
75g butter
a good pinch of salt
optional sprinkle of chili flakes or Aleppo pepper with the anchovies
a sprig of rosemary or basil if you have some in your drawer or garden if you want to vary this sometimes because you now make it all the time.
Directions
- To prep the sauce, drain the tins of plum tomatoes in a sieve under running water. This is a game changer for their flavour. If you are using chopped tomatoes, skip this stage, but I urge you to make this with whole, rinsed tomatoes.
- Slice the onion in half through the root and remove the outer layers of skin.
- Place a medium size saucepan on a medium heat and drizzle with a lick of olive oil. Place the drained anchovies into the pan and allow to melt into the oil as the pan heats up. You can help them along with a stir or two. This will only take a minute or two. If you want to add a little background heat into the mix, this is your moment to sprinkle in a small pinch of chili flakes.
- Once the anchovies are melted tip the rinsed tomatoes into the pan and give everything a good stir, so they don’t stick to the bottom and breaking up the tomatoes a little.
- Add the halved onion and a good wedge of butter (approx 75g – don’t scrimp).
- Place a lid on the pan and turn the heat down to medium/low. Cook for 45 minutes or so, giving it a gentle stir every so often.
The sauce will thicken, darken slightly and the butter will separate at the top. Once you stir it around it will all emulsify into a thick, lucious sauce. - When it is ready, remove the onion halves and any herb sprigs you may have added. And it’s ready to be stirred through your favourite pasta.
Don’t forget to reserve a little pasta water to stir through once they are mixed to help everything meld together beautifully.
Top with a generous helping of grated parmesan and devour.
Have you made this dish?
Let me know what you think, share your efforts and any tweaks you made to the recipe on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #BuildingFeasts or email me on info@buildingfeasts.com
