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Marcella Hazan has been described as the godmother of Italian cooking in America. When I heard that her son, Giuliano had written a cookbook, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Hazan Family Favorites: Beloved Italian Recipes, is a collection of 85 recipes passed down from his mother, grandmothers and extended family.
The book is filled with beautiful photographs of the family and of course the food. My favorite thing about this cookbook is that it offers classic Italian food accessible in my home kitchen.
As soon as I pulled Hazan Family Favorites from the mail box, I was immediately pouring through the pages. I marked so many recipes that I can’t wait to try.
On Saturday we were going to brand a set of our calves but we finally got some much needed rain Friday night and it was a little wet. I spent the morning catching up on laundry and cooking. My little fella came through and asked if he could help me cook. I am not the most patient with my kids in the kitchen, but it was a pretty laid back afternoon and I was glad to hang out with him in the kitchen.
When the older boys came through just before lunch they wanted to know what the amazing smell was, and exactly when could they eat.
This is the simplest sauce that I’ve ever made and I really loved the flavor. In the cookbook Giuliano describes this dish, “If I had to pick one dish that exemplifies “Hazan Family Favorites,” it would be this sauce.” This is also the sauce that most remember best from their cooking school.
This is a sauce I will make again and again in my own kitchen. When I was first learning to cook I tried to make my own pasta sauce and honestly it was never as good as what is in the jar from the grocery store. A good Italian pasta sauce doesn’t have to be like Kentucky Fried Chicken with 11 herbs and spices to taste good. That’s sort of a cooking revelation to me.
I know this is going to be one of my very favorite cookbooks and I think you would love having it in your collection as well. It can be found on Amazon or most bookstores. You can see other great recipes from my Virtual Potluck partners and our roundup is being hosted by Cookistry.
Tonight we will be hosting a twitter party and if you are on twitter, please join us. We will be giving away a copy there! We will be using the hashtag #HazanFavorites. You can find Giuliano, his wife Lael and ABRAM’S Books all on twitter. Hope to see you there!
My Mother’s Butter, Tomato & Onion Sauce
from Hazan Family Favorites
Ingredients:
2 pounds ripe tomatoes or 3 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes with their juice
1 medium sweet yellow onion
5 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb spaghetti or pasta of choice
Cooking Directions:
1. If using fresh tomatoes, peel them. Coarsely chop the fresh or canned tomatoes. Trim both ends of the onion; peel it and cut in half lengthwise.
2. Put the tomatoes, onion, butter and salt in a 4 to 5 quart saucepan over medium heat. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, lower the heat to a slow but steady simmer. Cook, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are no longer watery and the sauce has reduced, about 45 minutes, depending on the size and shape of the pot. The sauce is done when the butter has separated from the tomatoes and there is no remaining liquid.
NOTE: When you toss pasta with sauce, add about 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Enjoy!
Miss
Disclosure: I was provided the cookbook for review by ABRAMS, all opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I love that your son wanted to help you in the kitchen – great photo, btw. I’ve never mastered pasta sauce and will definitely give this version a try.
Love the picture of your son! How fun. I’ve been wanting to try this type of sauce for awhile–must do it now!
Yum! This sounds so fabulous!
Oh my! I know this tastes amazing!
There’s nothing better than a simple flavorful sauce!
We make something similar in my family. I love the butter in the sauce it really adds to it.
YES! This is pretty much how I make mine and it is SO GOOD.
Mmm, we’ve tried this sauce in the past and it’s delicious!
There’s nothing better than the smell of a simmering sauce, and this one looks perfect! Great recipe. Thanks for sharing. Also, I’m having a ChicWrap giveaway today that you should enter!
I’ve seen this book discussed twice now, and it’s starting to make me think I might need to order it, too! Sounds like my kind of cookbook.
That’s a great picture. Looks so delicious!
Ok- I am going to share a secret. I love to eat warm leftover spaghetti on buttered bread! The butter melts into the pasta and sauce…heaven! That said, I know this sauce is going to have the same effect on me! There is something about the melted butter with the tomatoes. I know I am going to love this!
I was just reading reviews on this earlier today! It does indeed look like a fabulous book.
I just made this – Really good and very simple. Perfect recipe when you don’t want to think too hard about dinner, too.
This sounds amazing! I’ve never made my own sauce and now I feel inspired to try!
The sauce sounds and looks incredible! The word butter totally got my attention.
Love that your son wanted to help out!
Great minds…or is it the western in us?
I’ve been making the sauce for awhile and try as I might when it came time to pick a recipe from the book to make…this just had to be it! I’ve got a book to give away too…lucky person aren’t they?? I just LOVE this sauce!