The simple recipe was created by Marcella Hazan in 1992, and only requires three ingredients – but is it actually any good, or just a lot of hype?
Pasta is a dish I adore, whether it’s cooked at home or ordered in a restaurant.
However, creating a tasty sauce can be quite challenging, with countless recipes available, it’s tough to determine which ones will actually deliver.
That was until I stumbled upon a recipe that boasts the title of ‘best in the world’. Intrigued by this bold claim, I decided to put it to the test.‘
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The recipe was created by Marcella Hazan in 1992 for her book The Essentials of Italian Cooking. Surprisingly, it only requires three ingredients – tinned plum tomatoes, an onion and butter, along with some salt for seasoning, reports the Daily Record.
My initial reaction was disbelief – no garlic? How good can it be?
Despite my doubts, I decided to give it a whirl. The recipe itself was incredibly straightforward.
All you have to do is throw all the ingredients into a pot and let it simmer for 45 minutes, no chopping necessary.
I managed to pick up all the ingredients from my local Lidl and got started. It felt odd just tossing a halved onion into the pot without chopping it first, but I did appreciate not having to shed tears over it like so many other dishes require.
I added the tomatoes, crushing them with the back of a wooden spoon for extra smoothness, and a generous dollop of butter. The recipe called for five tablespoons, but my newly purchased block was too hard to scoop, so I estimated a slice which seemed to work just fine.
The next step was to season with salt and let the sauce simmer on a very low heat for 45 minutes. At this point, it looked more like a watery onion soup, but patience was key as the sauce reduced into something much richer and tastier.
As the sauce neared completion, I boiled some pasta, reserving some of the water to help the sauce adhere to it. Following the instructions, I removed the onion and mixed everything together.
Despite its simplicity, the sauce was packed with flavour, with the onion taste coming through strongly. It wasn’t acidic, a common issue with chopped tomatoes, and the ease of preparation was a big plus.
Marcella suggests serving it with grated parmesan in her book, which was a nice touch, but it would have been equally good without it. I cooked enough pasta for three servings, and the pasta-to-sauce ratio was spot on.
As for whether it’s the ‘best in the world’, I can’t say until I’ve tried every pasta sauce out there, but I can say I’ve certainly revisited this straightforward recipe time and again.
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