Marcella Hazan's Tomato and Butter Sauce

This recipe has been showing up on food blogs lately, and comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

It is so simple - a large can of good quality whole tomatoes, butter (recipe calls for 5 tablespoons, I used about 3), and an onion.  Peel the onion and cut it in half.  No need to chop it up, because once the sauce has finished simmering, you fish the onion out and throw it away.  For real.

Pour the tomatoes and juices into a saucepan.  Add the butter and onion halves.  Bring the mixture to a strong simmer, then reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes.  Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes pressing them with a spoon against the side of the pan.

Season to taste - I added a bit of sugar and salt.  Yum yum yummy sauce.  I nibbled on it right out of the pan.

Great over pasta, but I used it as pizza sauce.  I had a King Arthur Pizza Crust Mix in the cabinet.  It mixes up so quick using the dough hook and KitchenAid stand mixer.  I had canadian bacon in the freezer and a green bell pepper and mushrooms in the fridge.  Unfortunately, no mozzarella, but I did pick up a bag of shredded parmesan the other day.  It all came together quickly and tasted great.  I vacuum sealed the leftovers and froze for another day.