Sugo al Burro e Pomodoro (Butter and Tomato Sauce)
Both Marcella Hazan (Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking) and her son, Giuliano Hazan (The Classic Pasta Cookbook), have recipes for Sugo al Burro e Pomodoro (Butter and Tomato Sauce). It has been a family favorite of theirs for years. It’s Italian comfort food!
The flavor is pure and it’s a very simple sauce for pasta. I used spaghetti, but it would be a perfect sauce for gnocchi or homemade tortellini.
Giuliano calls for 2 pounds of peeled and seeded plum tomatoes or 3 cups peeled canned tomatoes. (Don’t use fresh tomatoes unless they are in season and flavorful. Canned is better this time of year.) I used a 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes. I don’t mind seeing the tomato seeds in the finished sauce so I didn’t bother to seed them.
The recipe calls for a medium onion; my onion was huge, so I used just half of it instead of the whole thing. (Next time I may try using the whole onion, even if it is large.) Both Marcella and Giuliano suggest tossing the onion halves when the sauce is done. Bob was shocked; he enjoyed eating them!
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Butter and Tomato Sauce (Sugo al Burro e Pomodoro)
(Adapted from the recipes in Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and Giuliano Hazan’s The Classic Pasta Cookbook)
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Makes enough to sauce one pound of pasta
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Serves 4 – 5 as a main course, 6 – 8 as a first course or side dish
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2 pounds of peeled and seeded plum tomatoes, or 1 (28-oz) can of peeled canned tomatoes, and their juice
5 – 6 tablespoons butter (Marcella calls for 5; Giuliano uses 6. I usually use 6.)
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt to taste (you won’t need much with canned tomatoes)
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Cut the tomatoes into small pieces (Canned tomatoes are easily cut right in the pot with kitchen scissors.)
Put everything in a pan and simmer, uncovered, over low heat. Cook for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are reduced and you can see that the butter has separated out.
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Remove the onion halves and discard. (Or enjoy eating them, as Bob did.) Toss the sauce with hot pasta and serve with Parmesan cheese to grate at the table.
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In the kitchen with Kath 
I saw something similar to this on Smitten Kitchen the other day, but have been hesitant to try it because it seems like the butter makes a healthy-ish dish…well, not very healthy 😉 But if it’s really good, maybe we should try it!
I saw the post on Smitten Kitchen, too. After she raved about it, I decided to try it, too!
It does seem like a lot of butter, but there’s no other fat in the recipe and the butter’s spread out over 4 – 8 servings.
You could always use a bit less butter. Giuliano Hazan’s recipe called for 6 tablespoons of butter for 3 cups canned tomatoes; Marcella’s called for 5 tablespoons for 2 cups canned tomatoes. I think a 28 oz. can is closer to 3 cups so I went with 6 tablespoons.
This looks nice. I love the way Italian cooks take a few simple ingredients and coax out the most amazing pure tastes. Thanks for sharing.
this is not the italian way of cooking spaghetti with sauce…maybe it’s an italian/american dish like spaghetti with meat balls.