Marcella Hazan’s five-star, 12,000-review tomato sauce

All you need are canned tomatoes, an onion cut in half, butter, salt and time.

View in browser|nytimes.com August 18, 2024 Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, adapted by Kim Severson. Adapted by The New York Times. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Simon Andrews. Marcella Hazan's five-star, 12,000-review tomato sauce By Kim Severson Hi. Sam's summering somewhere on an island in the Atlantic. I'm summering here at my desk, where the food news never stops. About five years before the Italian cook Marcella Hazan died, I had the good fortune to spend an afternoon interviewing her at her condo in the Florida Keys. She was in her mid-80s, still enjoying her Marlboro Lights and a shot of Gentleman Jack whiskey in the afternoons. And she was still complaining about American supermarkets. Her critique of her local Publix remains one of the highlights of my food reporting career. Which was worse — that a food market offered inflatable alligator beach toys or that it sold giant globe artichokes? "I never saw artichokes in my life like this," she told me. "It's better because it's bigger? What am I supposed to do with this?" Still, we turned them and some other food from the grocery store into a simple baked pasta dish with some Gulf shrimp. Even if you don't know who Marcella Hazan is, you probably know her most famous recipe. It's a dead-simple sauce of tomatoes, onions and butter that she first published in "The Classic Italian Cook Book" in 1973. She titled it Tomato Sauce III. Its luscious simplicity is the draw: All you need are canned tomatoes, an onion cut in half, butter, salt and time. Featured Recipe Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce View Recipe → Of course, this time of year you could sub in some fresh tomatoes. I bought a box of seconds at the farmers' market and roasted them whole with olive oil, then used those for the sauce. It was delicious, but I'm sure Marcella would not have approved. She held doctorates in the natural sciences and biology. Her recipes were precise and intentional. "Marcella," her husband, Victor, told me that afternoon, "is very tightly focused." But I'm not, and I'm OK with that. You should be, too. After all, it's your kitchen. Now, on to the rest of the week … Monday Summer floats across the country in a wave. Here in the American South, kids are back in school and peach season has peaked. In the Northeast — sorry, your peaches will never be as good as ours — August is prime peach season. Hetty Lui McKinnon has found a way to unite us all with her bold marriage of fresh, bright peaches and the spicy, savory funk of gochujang in this easy-to-assemble salad. (Bonus: It uses cucumber, the latest vegetable to go viral online.) Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Greg Lofts. Peach, Cucumber and Mozzarella Salad With Gochujang Vinaigrette  By Hetty Lui McKinnon 20 minutes Makes 4 servings  Tuesday Shrimp scampi is one of those meals that feels much fancier than the amount of work it takes. We have a ton of fresh Gulf shrimp at my local markets, but there are plenty of good, sustainable frozen shrimp options at grocery stores all across this great nation. Put them to use in this scampi dish with toasted orzo from Ali Slagle, a member of the New York Times Cooking crew whom I trust like a sister. Her recipe has five stars and over 1,500 comments, including one that recommends subbing tofu for the shrimp. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Shrimp Scampi With Orzo By Ali Slagle 25 minutes Makes 4 servings Wednesday I forget how terrific fresh baba ghanouj can be. The big Italian eggplant I picked up the other day reminded me. Martha Rose Shulman, who is so respected that M.F.K. Fisher blurbed one of her cookbooks, has a version that uses a lot of tahini. It gives the dip enough heft to build an easy meal around. But heed Greg Pyke, a reader who left this comment: "Piercing eggplant first is no joke. I ignored this and mine exploded, luckily on a gas grill with the lid down and not in my oven. Sixty years cooking and still learning from mistakes!" Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Baba Ghanouj By Martha Rose Shulman 1 hour 15 minutes Makes About 2 cups Thursday A recipe that relies on cans and a boxed mix might not be your first choice when there is so much fresh produce around, but what did they expect when they let me write the newsletter? I'm such a fan of this elotes-flavored corn pudding that Brett Anderson and Genevieve Ko picked up from Ernest Servantes of the beloved Burnt Bean Co. in south central Texas. Servantes uses two types of canned corn and a box of cornbread mix to create the perfect side dish for brisket or really anything you might be putting on the grill. "It's like Mexican street corn and cornbread had a baby," he said. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Street Corn Pudding Recipe from Ernest Servantes Adapted by Brett Anderson and Genevieve Ko 1 hour 30 minutes Makes 8 to 10 servings Friday Want to make the weekend extra? Bake a cake that you can offer to surprise guests or snack on every time you pass through the kitchen. Personally, I like a good poundcake. So does this newsletter's editor, Mia Leimkuhler: "You've got to respect a cake that crams as much butter, flour and sugar as it can into its volume." This bold, lemony Bundt from Yossy Arefi puts four lemons to work and is at its best the day after it's baked. Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Victoria Granof. Lemon Bundt Cake By Yossy Arefi 1 hour 30 minutes Makes 12 servings Now the pitch. Thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this week are waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You need a subscription to read them. (Do you think well-tested recipes just fall out of a coconut tree? No! They cost money.) Consider subscribing today. We thank you. And if our technology is vexing you or acting buggy, don't ask me for help! You'll have much better luck getting in contact with cookingcare@nytimes.com. If someone doesn't get back to you, then come to me and I will fight for you: severson@nytimes.com. I'll be back again on Friday. Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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