Tomato Sauce

by Bradley Kenyon

13 June 2010

spices

A wise man once told me about the triangle. He told me the triangle would define everything I would ever encounter. It goes like this: easy, cheap, good. Pick two. It can be easy and cheap, but it won’t be good. It can be easy and good, but it won’t be cheap. Or, it can be cheap and good, but it won’t be easy.

Dear Mr. Wisdom,

You were wrong.

sincerely,
me

My sister, the educator named Audrey, introduced me to a very simple tomato sauce that she found on another blog. Upon researching a bit more, I learned that this is a fairly standard recipe that had eluded me for years (likely due to my strong distaste for tomatoes).

This recipe requires so little maintenance that it practically makes itself and it is infinitely better than any sauce I’ve had from a jar.

I have modified the recipe to suit my palette. If you are looking for the most basic iteration of this sauce, google it and you’ll be overwhelmed by the results.

Easy, cheap, good. Have all three.

Recipe: Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Ingredients

  • 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion, halved
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • salt (to taste)
  • grated parmesan (optional)
  • 1 lb. favorite pasta

Instructions

  1. Combine tomatoes, both onion halves, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
  2. Add the cayenne pepper and cinnamon and reduce the heat. Maintain a light simmer for 40-45 minutes.
  3. Stir occasionally and near the end of the 40-45 minutes, crush the tomatoes on the side of the pan. Add salt.
  4. When the time is appropriate, cook the pasta according to package directions (I used linguine and began about 20 minutes after the sauce was simmering).
  5. If using, add/grate parmesan.


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