Simple Tomato Sauce

When Dakota and I lived together, she would always make this sauce for her pasta dinners and I would lurk around the kitchen hoping for a bite of the sumptuous creation. Everyone needs a simple tomato sauce in their recipe arsenal and this one is it — not only is it bursting in flavor from the carrots, celery, shallot, garlic and acidic tomatoes, but is balanced perfectly from the knob of butter added for creaminess at the end. What really makes this recipe the one you’ll come back to time and time again is the ease of it: nothing in this sauce requires precision and the majority of the cook-time is hands off (read: relax with glass of wine in hand). Thank goodness Dakota agreed to share this recipe with all of us, because honestly I was tired of recreating mediocre versions of this outstanding sauce. We will be loyal to this sauce forever, and we're excited to share it with you for all of your pasta needs. —Ju

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 small shallots or 1/2 of an onion, diced

• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 stalk of celery, roughly chopped

• 1 carrot, roughly chopped

• 2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes

• 4 Tbsp butter

• kosher salt to taste

Instructions

1. Roughly chop shallot and garlic and add to a medium pot over medium heat — drizzle with olive oil. Let shallots and garlic soften and sweat for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Add in carrot and celery to soup pot and about 1/2 tsp to the pot. Stir and let soften for about 1 minute more.

3. Add in the 2 bay leaves along with the two cans of tomato sauce — allow mixture to simmer for an hour..

4. After simmering for about an hour, the vegetables should be soft. Remove the pot from the stove, fish out the bay leaves and pour the sauce into a blender. Blend the sauce until the large chunks are gone.

5. Pour sauce back into pot and add the 4 Tbsps of butter. Taste for salt.

6. Toss sauce with pasta of choice and serve.

This sauce can be cooled and frozen for later use.