Relearning: Annalena rethinks her tomato sauce

Ragazzi, to say Italy was a revelation to Annalena is an understatement.  She learned so much about food, and how to make hers better.  Some of the shifts have been subtle, others not so.   In all areas: refinements, and as we will see here, in basics, like tomato sauce : sugo di pomodori.
Annalena feels, correctly, that her tomato sauce is excellent.  Let me tell you now, ragazzi, that IF there were a tomato sauce Olympics, Annalena would not have gotten out of the qualifying rounds, and Italians would have swept the medals, and probably the top ten. EVERYWHERE Annalena and the  Guyman went,  she was astonished at just how good this humble, basic was.  And Annalena began to question her own sauce.   
Knowing that she could not match Italian tomatoes, regardless of how good the tomatoes were here,  or how good the canned ones were, Annalena went to her source for things Italian:  Marcella Hazan.  Her books are incredible fonts of knowledge, if you know what to do with them.   She has a whole, minchapter on tomato sauces.  Should you have the book,  (Essentials of Italian Cooking), please read that few pages.  If you do not have the book, go and get it.  And PAY ATTENTION TO IT.  What you will learn is that tomato sauce  making is not a precise recipe.  This is very much by "feel," but the lessons on what to look for, are invaluable.    So Annalena made the first of Marcella's recipes last night, tossing aside everything she knew of sauce making.

It was a revelation.  As it will be for you.    Abbastanza.  Let us cook.  Now, pay careful heed to this list of ingredients:

A large can (28 ounces or 32) of tomatoes.  A stick and a half of butter.  A medium onion, cut in half, or two small  fresh spring onions treated the same way.  Salt.

And Annalena thought her roster of olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, onion , garlic and salt was short.  

Now, about those tomatoes.  Marcella recommends San Marzano.  Yes, absolutely.  But Annalena being a local girl herself, likes canned New Jersey tomatoes.  You're going to have to break them up, so if you find crushed New Jerseys, or Marzanos, use them.  Annalena has gotten over buying the whole ones and breaking them up  herself.  The quality of the crushed ones  or chopped ones has gotten so much better.  Put them in a pot, with a stick and a half of unsalted butter, the onion or onions cut in haf, and a teaspoon of salt. 

The size of your pot matters, because it will determine how long you need to cook these.  Annalena used a three quart pot and hers took 45 minutes.    Use the lowest heat on your burner that you can manage, without turning it off.  IF by some chance you have a heat disperser (Annalena has recommended getting one before, hasn't she?)  Every five minutes or so, take a look at the pot, and also stir it.  When you stir the stuff, try to crush the tomatoes a bit too.  And watch the transformation as it goes to liquid, and then begins tightening up.  (Marcella says  "tomato sauce is about evaporation.  She's right).

When the stuff is thick, and starting to stick to the bottom of your pot, you're done.  Pull out what will now be a skanky, wet, soft couple of onion halfs Taste it.   It will , or should, taste saltier than  you like.  And that's a good thing, because even when you salt pasta water properly, it is never very salty.  The bland pasta will diminish the saltiness of the sauce.  (Remember that the word 'saltato' means both savory and salty)

Now, for a very important point.  This is SO important it isn't funny.  You will have, probably, about two big cups of sauce after doing this recipe.  How much pasta do you think that should cover? 

Three pounds.  Yup.  Three pounds.  Remember always, ragazzi, that sugo is a contorno, an accompaniment, NOT the main thing.  So, make a good, thick, flavorful sauce, and use less of it. 

Maybe you'll make it to the quarterfinals, or even the semifinals.