That FOUR ingredient tomato sauce.

 I love recipes out of New York Times or other food publications. I married as a completely inexperienced cook and used to think I was hot stuff after heating up a Stouffer's salisbury steak dinner in the microwave and throwing together instant mashed potatoes for our meal as newlyweds. My goal pretty early in our marriage though and then after having children was to learn– really learn how to cook from scratch. And, so my journey began with falling for not only good recipes, but the stories behind those recipes. While scrolling through these boring blog articles in order to get to a recipe may be a pain in the butt, once in a while, there's a really great history behind that directive that makes the recipe that much more meaningful. When I came across this recipe from Marcella Hazan I couldn't believe it. Her recipe calls for four ingredients. Just add basil and garlic, right? No. No basil, no, and gulp, not even a clove of garlic. 

I made this sauce which is titled, "The Best Tomato Sauce" and I was absolutely delighted and surprised at how incredibly delicious it is. I began to look up other opinions on this sauce and was feeling like I was on to something—most people who make homemade sauce, have no restraint. Most write-ups on this recipe will start off calling it a four ingredient sauce, but they always end up commenting on what other ingredients can be added or alternatives for the four. And, friends and family that I've shared the recipe with gawked at the lack of spice or said something like, "Well, it was OK, I added garlic and parsley to mine." I began to care not so much about whether they liked the sauce, but I was humored by the again, lack of restraint. People simply cannot hold back from adding what they think  should be in an Italian sauce, rather than being willing to just try it. The main point of the recipe is that it is only four ingredients. Marcella's husband described Marcella's creation as being scientific and noting, she was born to make such a sauce, and her education in the sciences only helped her realize the chemistry of butter and onions. It just made sense.

There is a hero of this story, my longtime since childhood friend, whose grandparents arrived via Ellis Island from Italy. This is my seven fishes on Christmas Eve, every Saturday at Big Nanny's type of Italian friend. I nonchalantly shared the recipe with her thinking man she's gonna shoot me down for this one. A couple months later, I cautiously asked her about it and threw in, "hey I know you probably think it was a stupid recipe..." and without any hesitation she voices back, "Are you kidding me, it's now the only sauce I make, it is delicious!" That New Year's Eve, we made the sauce and put it over stuffed shells and baked them in my oven. I remember as we both took our first bite, we paused and looked at eachother with that look–like pardon my french but that is dang good. I think there may have been a little headshake and a minor bit of moaning and grunting. We both describe the sauce as velvety. And, now it is the only sauce both of us make. We just made it recently for a family gathering–hers over sausage, mine over meatballs and the the compliments were endless. I do not remove the onions when I serve. And, as Marcella's family advises, Marcella always added grated cheese when she served the sauce and so do I. 

The four ingredients are:

• 2 cups of fresh or a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes
• One onion, halved
• 5 tablespoons of butter
• salt

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/marcella-hazan-famous-tomato-onion-butter-sauce-article

You bring to boil and then quickly turn down and let it simmer for at least 45 minutes.