Recipe from Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat pg 292
Time: 1hr 15min
Servings: ~8 cups sauce
Rating: 3.5/5
INGREDIENTS
olive oil
2 yellow onions, sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, sliced
4 lb tomatoes (~18 roma tomatoes / 2x 28oz can)
16 fresh basil leaves, torn
3/4 lb spaghetti
1/2 tbs red pepper
salt
parmesan
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat large pan over med-high heat. Coat the bottom with olive oil.
2. When the oil shimmers, add the onions and season with salt. Cook the onions over medium heat until translucent but not brown, ~15min. Add water if the onions are burning.
3. Slice garlic, quarter tomatoes. For cans of tomato, crush the tomato and swish can with 1/4 water.
4. When the onions are soft, push the onions to the side. In the center, heat a little olive oil and add garlic. Sizzle until garlic is fragerent but not browning, ~20sec.
5. Add tomatoes, bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Use spoon to smash down tomatoes.
6. Tear in basil leaves and season with salt.
7. Simmer and stir often to prevent browning.
8. When tomatoes have sufficiently cooked, ~25min, add 3/4 cup olive oil and bring sauce to simmer for several minutes.
When adding the sauce to pasta, thin with the pasta water if needed.
Thoughts
A more plain tomato sauce. It could do with some spice from pepper or chili flakes. It also needs a sour or savory note to the sweet tomatoes. It has much deeper flavor as a base for Pasta alla Puttanesca.
Edit: For the second batch. I made with 6 beefsteak tomatoes, 3 on the vine (~5 lb fresh tomatoes). It added a lot of extra water and I ended up simmering with the lid off for 40min. I also sautéed the onion in bacon fat and added 1 cup chicken stock to the base. For the seasoning, I added oregano and 1 tbs red pepper – definitely more on the spicy side, cut in half for a more mild kick.