Easy Italian Dinner

I recently found out about a food blog called Smitten Kitchen. One of the recipes I found there is for an incredibly easy tomato sauce that I decided to try. This is the kind of recipe where you give the directions a quick once over and know exactly what to do. It's that simple.


The ingredients are a 28oz. can of tomatoes, one onion (peeled and halved), and just over half a stick of butter. Put those three things in a pot and simmer for 45 minutes, keeping an eye on it and giving it a stir every now and then. Then, pull the onion halves out and voila, it's done.

The butter adds a sweetness that makes it smell amazing while it's cooking. The end result is a pretty tangy sauce. It reminds me of a classic red sauce that you would get at a simple, no-frills Italian restaurant, only better because it's homemade.

To use the sauce, I decided to recreate a dish I had at a restaurant recently. I put it over some cavatelli and topped it with a generous dab of ricotta cheese. It becomes nice and creamy when mixed together. I have to say, this has to be one of the easiest dishes I've ever made, and I think I liked it even better than the restaurant version that inspired me.