How to Finally Master the Off-the-Cuff Pasta Dinner
There are as many theories on the best way to make tomato-based pasta sauce as there are nonnas in Italy. These range from fantastically simple (see: Marcella Hazan’s famously minimalist recipe) to decadent affairs with wine reductions and cured meats and all manner of seasonings.
I haven’t entirely settled on a method I like, and I make my tomato sauce differently each time. But there are two constants: First, buy the best canned whole tomatoes available. These are likely the San Marzano variety (although be careful, there are fakers out there). Second, cook the everloving crap out of them. The magic of tomato sauce doesn’t happen quickly, but thankfully you can make a big batch and keep it in the freezer for later. Other than that, you can follow as many or as few of these steps as you please—once you've done it two or three times, you'll be able to improvise your own path to pasta success.
Fat
First, you’re going to need a fat. You can use olive oil, or, like Marcella, butter. I have been known to use bacon fat upon occasion. You can cube up some pancetta, fry it, and use that fat as well. Or a combination of any of these. Just don’t be shy with the fat; you’re making a big batch, so you’re going to need a lot of it.
Vegetables
Besides the tomatoes, I mean. I use onions, garlic, and fennel—you could add celery and carrot to the mix, but then you’re getting pretty close to bolognese territory. Here’s where you need to make a choice: You can cut the vegetables up really small, for a chunkier sauce, or leave them in big pieces to be fished out later, for a smoother sauce. Up to you. Either way, give them a pinch of salt and sauté them in the fat over low heat until they soften and get slightly translucent. At this point I’ll often add a healthy pinch of red chile flakes.
Wine (optional)
White, please! Red seems like the right call, but I assure you: you want white. A dry white. After the vegetables are good and cooked, add a nice glug of white wine. You can add a lot. Like, a lot. Upon occasion, I use an old Italian recipe that calls for an entire bottle, so go nuts. Cook the wine with the vegetables until it’s almost entirely evaporated.
Tomatoes
As stated previously, several cans of good quality whole tomatoes packed with their sauce. If I’m making a smooth sauce, I put all of these in a big bowl and buzz them with an immersion blender. If I’m going with chunky, I just dump ‘em in and break them up with a spoon as they cook. Rinse out the cans with water to get the last bits of sauce, and add this water to the pot, too. Add a little bit of salt at this point, but not a ton.
Herbs
Thyme or rosemary, added with the tomatoes. Don’t overdo it.
Now cook
On the lowest simmer you can manage, for, ideally, 4 hours. I know. But you don’t have to do anything to it, and it will make your house smell amazing. (Consider it multitasking while you Netflix.) At the end of the 4 hours, fish out the herbs and any big vegetables you don’t want to include in the final product. Salt to taste—it will probably need a little more salt than you think. Let it cool and freeze in 2-4 cup quantities. You can use freezer bags for this, or, like I do, deli takeout pint containers.
And that’s it: homemade tomato sauce to get you through the winter, equally suited to quick Tuesday night spaghetti as it is to elaborate Sunday lasagnas.
