I’ve posted this recipe previously over at my other site, Cooking the Books, but I thought maybe you Cupcake Rehab readers who don’t know about/don’t read CTB might be interested in this recipe. It’s one of the best and simplest sauce recipes I’ve ever tasted/experienced. Now, I don’t come from an Italian family, so I don’t have a family recipe. I have an uncle by marriage who’s Italian, but I don’t know his family’s sauce recipe, if he even does. So this is the closest I come to having an official sauce recipe, and since it’s so easy to expand on it, you can tweak it to suit you or the particular dish you’re making.

The original recipe is Marcella Hazan‘s, and it was then tweaked by Guilia Melucci in her book I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, and then tweaked again by myself. For the original recipe, go here. This is my version of a Simple Sauce.

SALSA SEMPLICE (SIMPLE SAUCE)

Ingredienti:

• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons fresh finely chopped basil (or use dried basil, just less of it), or throw in a few basil leaves, which is what I like to do
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ cup red wine
• 2 teaspoons salt

Indicazioni:

1. Put all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, then lower heat and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove onion before tossing sauce with the pasta, saucing your pizza or using in your baked pasta dish.

This sauce is fantastic on simple pasta dishes, on ravioli, or on pizza (my favorite). I make a big batch and then use it over the course of a week- one night pasta, one night pizza, etc. It doubles and triples easily, so by all means, go nuts! I love basil so I add a bunch, if you’re not a fan then by all means take it out. The original recipe didn’t call for it. Also, you can use those cans of tomatoes that already are seasoned with basil, I’ve done it and it comes out fantastic. The red wine can also be taken out and it still tastes perfect.

To be honest, it’s even great at room temperature, spread on a piece of big fat olive oil ciabatta with a thick slice of mozzarella di bufala on top. Yum. But here it is over some penne… let the drooling commence!

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