Marcella Hazan's all purpose Swiss army knife sauce

Just finished that recipe and it turns out to be the Swiss army knife of sauces.

Had it at first as prescribed, over pasta. Then realized that the tomato chunks I'd left in made it great for bruschetti. Pieces of whole grain bread, toasted, chunks spread on, excellent snack. Then over cheese and onion (the onion that had been cooked in it, saved) and ham, toasted, lunch.

Then today the rest of it, chicken thighs and chicken garlic sausage, baked for 45 minutes at 400f, then the sauce added, back to oven for ten minutes, very good (two) meals.

I'd say this was worth doing.

Despite the snowy equinox, cooking goes bravely on

 
So, this being the state of affairs outside, on the first day of spring, it demanded action in the kitchen.  

Wednesday was the Bite Club meeting, that's my cookbook book club,  and a reunion with the members I hadn't seen for ages, owing to my dodgy winter.  This is the group where everyone brings samples from the current cookbook to share all around. And one of them had made Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, three kinds. The simple one was so wonderful I decided it had to enter my repertoire.  Just up my alley: simple and marvelous.

So I made a batch today, and you see the results. 

So good I'm thinking of making my own pasta tomorrow to go with, along with some seafood mix that will be very good.

 One thing I sharply departed from:  when you make the sauce, a really simple thing with can of whole tomatoes, (fresh ones in season), butter, salt, an onion cut in two and cooked along, you do all that, slow simmering, wonderful smell, all good so far..   

Then Marcella commits a food crime: she says to discard the onion.  See that perfectly good onion sitting in that dish?  My outrage was as loud as the Ds on seeing the snowstorm when they planned gardening.  Not in my kitchen, dear M.  It's Food!  you're talking to the woman who made next door's Halloween pumpkin into soup.  Discard an onion? Nevah.

So I cut it up, and roasted it with a spritz of olive oil, in a 375 F oven for about 45 minutes, and made it the bed for an egg over easy. Fresh ground black pepper on the egg. Perfect little supper, with a nice glass of Merlot. Just sayin.