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Homemade cheese pizza with a golden, bubbly crust, topped with a simple tomato sauce and melted cheese, on a wooden board with a sunflower-patterned towel nearby.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Inspired by the classic Marcella Hazan recipe, this makes a huge batch so you can store a few quarts in the freezer for easy weeknight meals. I use this on pasta dishes, pizzas, lasagna, and eggs in purgatory.
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Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Servings 12 cups
Calories 94 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 6 tablespoon butter
  • 2 yellow onions peeled and roughly chopped
  • 90 oz can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes I get cans this size at Wegman’s, but if you can’t find a jumbo can, simply use 3 28 oz cans instead!
  • 1 teaspoon salt you may want to add more depending on your tastebuds
  • 1 tablespoon ish! Italian seasoning or combo of dried basil, oregano, and thyme (I start with a few dashes and adjust to taste)
  • optional: juice of ½ lemon brightens the flavor up! I swear by this.
  • optional: up to 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions
 

  • Add butter and onions to a stockpot, and cook over medium until onion is starting to soften up.
  • Add tomatoes and salt, bring to a simmer, and crush tomatoes with the back of a large wooden spoon or whatever you’re stirring with.
  • Simmer for ~30 minutes, squeeze in lemon juice, add seasoning, then with an immersion blender, get in there and smooth things out. Alternatively, you can use a high-powered blender (I swear by mine and it’s going on 12 years strong!) and get it to your desired consistency.
  • Taste, adjust seasonings, add more salt if needed, or if it’s a bit too acidic for your liking, add some sugar to mellow things out.
  • Portion into containers as needed!

Notes

  • I put 1 teaspoon of salt because that's what I usually end up using, but always start with less because you can add more but you can't take it away!
  • The lemon juice is added but I swear by it — I think I first learned about this from an episode of Great British Bake Off and then I read about it in On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee and it solidified its place in my cooking repertoire.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.75cupsCalories: 94kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 544mgPotassium: 428mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 424IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 2mg
Keyword pizza sauce, simple tomato sauce, tomato sauce
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