Marcella Hazan has been an inspiration to cooks around the world for decades. We found her simple tomato sauce a while back by accident. The first time we made the infamous Marcell Hazan’s tomato sauce, our jaws dropped before we could even taste this because of the delightful smell our home was filled with. Since then we make it all the time and have even turned it into a Tomato Bisque!
Our Take on Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 heirloom tomatoes smashed
- 5 tbsp butter
- ½ white onion
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- salt
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil
- Slice a thin X on the bottom of each tomato
- Add tomatoes to the pot of boiling water
- After 1 minute remove tomatoes and place in bowl of ice water to cool
- Peel and crush heirloom tomatoes
- In stock pot add butter, onion, pinch of salt, crushed red pepper, crushed garlic, and crushed tomatoes
- Simmer for 45 minutes or until thicken to your liking
- Stir every so often and crush tomato chunks
- Taste and add additional salt if needed
- Remove onion and garlic from sauce and serve over you favorite pasta
We have made this sauce just how Marcella describes but we have put our own twists on this a few times. See the recipe above for our take on Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce. I promise you, it is just as creamy and delicious as her traditional take.
If you don’t want to deal with the fresh tomatoes, good news, you don’t have to. This dish can easily be made instead with canned tomatoes. We do recommend getting the whole canned tomatoes but crushed will work too. Canned tomatoes are a great alternative, but I do have to add that the fresh tomatoes make a better sauce. The flavor is so robust that it just cannot be beat.
Our take on this simple sauce has received raved reviews every time we make it for a friend or at a dinner party. We have also modified this recipe to turn into a tomato bisque by adding shredded parmesan cheese during the last 5-10 minutes of the sauce simmering. Or try our healthy twist on chicken parmesan! Now, that’s a recipe I will eat every single week and never get bored of.
From our kitchen to yours, cheers!
