The Tomato Sauce

Small pleasures are often overlooked. They are the quiet details that make daily life feel opulent. Not the breathless moments, but the ones that bring a soft smile and the comfort of familiarity. In food, those pleasures often come from the simplest recipes.

One of my simple pleasures is this tomato sauce, which I learned about nearly two decades ago in Veneto, Italy. Although slightly modified from the original, this sauce marked the beginning of my love for Italian food and remains the foundation of the Spicy Italian Sausage Orecchiette I shared in 2022.

While the Spicy Italian Sausage Orecchiette has layers of flavor from various ingredients and is more involved on the stove, this tomato sauce relies on one flavor, tomato, supported by garlic, basil, and salt. The salt? It brings out the acidity of the tomato.

Shown above with French Miso Lamb, this tomato sauce with spaghetti is a versatile companion to meat dishes, from lamb to chicken. Delicious on its own, you can also add meatballs, sausages, or mushrooms to make it an entrée. Of course, it can be savored simply with spaghetti.

INGREDIENTS

[makes sauce for 2 to 3 servings of pasta]

one can of 790 grams / 27.9 ounces crushed tomatoes

twelve fresh basil leaves, sliced

four garlic cloves, sliced

two tablespoons of olive oil

one tablespoon of tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a Dutch oven over high heat and add olive oil once hot. Add the garlic slices and cook until they begin to turn light brown, then remove them while leaving the oil in the Dutch oven. Add the sliced basil leaves and crushed tomatoes, then immediately lower the heat to medium. Let it simmer for about five minutes, stirring once or twice. Add a quarter teaspoon of salt and a couple of pinches of cracked pepper.

Stir once or twice before adding the tomato paste. Carefully taste, as the sauce will be hot. Add another quarter teaspoon of salt if it tastes like something is missing. Stir and taste again. If more salt is needed, add a pinch at a time to your taste. The total stove cooking time is 18 minutes.

This post contains affiliate links.

_____

More recipes:

Bibim-Soba

French Miso Lamb

Samgyetang, aka Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup

Miso Brûlée Salmon

Penne Rigate alla Vodka

ESSAYS | RECIPES | STYLES | IG

Articles sélectionnés

I earn commission on qualified purchases.

Comments

Who Investigated the Alleged Cornell Gang Rape?

This morning, my mind froze as I read about an alleged gang rape involving eight Cornell University students that occurred nearly two years ago, in 2024. Most of us learned the details only after Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit on September 14, 2026, in New York State Supreme Court, New York County, against Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar, alleging that the seven men raped her while they were students at Cornell University. The alleged assault occurred during the night of October 19 into the morning of October 20, 2024. Jane Doe later reported the incident to Cornell University Police. Cornell separately conducted its own disciplinary investigation, followed by hearings under its Title IX process, while Cornell University Police conducted the criminal investigation that was referred to the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office. at LACMA No criminal charges followed. The District Attorney’s Office did n...

Is Feminism Destroying Us?

Are you bothered by the question? More than two decades ago, a dear friend, Andrea, ten years my senior, confided that she believed feminists had destroyed our lives. Back then, work-life balance did not exist. Back then, I was asked to terminate an employee simply because she was pregnant. at Laguna Art Museum I didn't. I also didn't exactly refuse. I told the company that it was more than welcome to terminate her, but as her direct manager, I saw no performance-related reason to end her employment and therefore would not sign her separation papers. If executive management wanted to terminate her, I would accept its decision. I simply would not lend my name to it. She was not terminated. I didn't refuse to sign because I was advocating for her rights. I refused because there was no reason to terminate her. I had terminated other employees for poor performance; pregnancy was not poor performance. And the order hadn't come from a man. It came from my boss, who was a woma...

What If I Told You Tolerance Is Insane

A few years ago, I worked as a Project Manager for a marketing agency. What most people did not know was that I wasn’t simply managing marketing projects. Part of my job was to conduct root-cause analysis and privately address what I found with the VP of Operations. The agency was losing clients, and part of my assignment was to conduct root-cause analysis within the PMO. No one ever told me the two were connected, but I wondered whether leadership believed they might be. Ganna Walska Lotusland I worked alongside another Project Manager, a smart guy with a project management certification whose vertical happened to be one of the problematic ones. He didn’t know that evaluating his project pipeline was part of my assignment. His failure to follow project management best practices had already been escalated. He also had reluctance to escalate problems early enough to keep them from affecting clients. One Client Success Manager was a recurring problem. She routinely failed to turn in ...

Homemade Balsamic Glaze

There are ingredients that demand complexity, and then there are ingredients that reward quiet. Balsamic glaze belongs firmly in the latter category. At its core, it is nothing more than vinegar reduced with a touch of sugar. No emulsions. No elaborate technique. Just heat transforming sharpness into depth. As the vinegar simmers, it thickens into something darker, glossier, and quietly dramatic. A proper balsamic reduction carries contrast. It is sweet, but not cloying. Acidic, but softened. It pools against burrata, streaks across roasted vegetables, finishes a steak, and cuts through the richness of duck with precision. It does not overwhelm. It punctuates. And unlike many bottled versions, which can taste flat or syrupy, a homemade glaze retains the complexity of the vinegar itself. The flavor concentrates. The texture becomes silkier. The control is yours. INGREDIENTS a half cup of balsamic vinegar one and a half teaspoons of sugar In a small saucepan, combine the balsamic...

No Rice, No Deal Stir-Fry Bowl

For a while, I restrained myself from using salt and pepper in my cooking, partly because I had come to think of them as the two most overused seasonings, capable of keeping a dish from becoming more interesting than the obvious. At one point, I even wondered whether I had developed a sensitivity to salt; the slightest over-seasoning began tasting bitter to me. Salty filets at Michael Mina at Bellagio and Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas last year did little to repair the relationship. Trust me, an overly salted filet at an upscale restaurant is its own particular trauma, quite different from realizing the horrible flavor of McDonald’s new limited-edition Spicy Chicken McNuggets. I never abandoned salt entirely. I continued using it to enhance other spices and ingredients, but deliberately salty flavors, even those built around soy sauce, became increasingly rare in my kitchen. Ceramic bowl was wheel-thrown and glazed by me. Until recently. No Rice, No Deal Stir-Fry Bowl is deliberately veg...

Let's Unite With Intelligence, Not Emotions

It has been difficult to watch as the alleged Cornell University gang rape saga unfolds. I am not minimizing what allegedly happened. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence as an adult, I do not take what allegedly happened lightly. What happened to Jane Doe, I know she will never be able to escape—physically, mentally, or emotionally. I know her thoughts must take her to the darkest and cruelest moments, moments that at times must feel as though they will never end. I have learned to accept those moments myself, the shame and rage turning so rapidly that eventually they become numbness, until something triggers them again. I have also learned that the numbness is when it becomes dangerous, when the conflict that keeps us “feeling” is subdued and settles into an acceptance: I am damaged. Forever. So I know it is difficult—nearly impossible for some of us, and for legitimate reasons—to leave our emotions out of what allegedly happened beginning on October 19, 202...

Korean Gal's Guatemalan Red Beans with Pork Spare Ribs

Full transparency. I am afraid of pressure cookers. It is a fear instilled in me by my mom, a quiet but effective deterrent meant to keep me at a safe distance—especially when the pressure is being released. Reasonable? Perhaps. I would consider a therapist, but it has been years since I have needed one. Ceramic bowl was wheel-thrown and glazed by me. When I saw the Pressure Cooker Guatemalan Red Beans with Beef Short Ribs recipe in The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope , I knew I had to make a version of my own—one that did not require a pressure cooker. I also wanted the ingredients to feel simpler, more accessible. More importantly, I wanted the dish to center the red beans, rather than have them overshadowed by the richness of beef short ribs. This is not a bean stew, but a slow braise—one that relies on the gradual release of moisture from the ingredients themselves. So, changes were made—and thus, the name: Korean Gal’s Guatemalan Red Beans with P...

Shiso Pork Belly Rice

One of my recent obsessions has been a pot of perfectly cooked rice, an obsession I had to put on hold once Los Angeles began suffering through extreme heat. While I love my rice cooker, there is something undeniably foodgasmic about rice made in a thick clay or stone pot . Add pork, mushrooms, bean sprouts, mu (Korean radish), shiso, or whatever vegetables you desire, and you have the perfect one-pot meal. Many rice pots welcome gochujang or sesame oil at the table. This one does not need either. Served with ssamjang and lettuce This Shiso Pork Belly Rice is one of my recent favorites. Pork belly does more than give the dish meat. As its fat renders at the bottom of the pot, that richness works its way into the rice above it. Shiso plays a different role here than it would scattered fresh over a finished dish. Cooked with the rice, its assertive herbal character softens and perfumes the grains rather than announcing itself from the first bite. Napa cabbage brings a little sweetness...

From Thongs To Guns, Where Are the Parents?

It was more than two decades ago, when Victoria’s Secret was hot. A simpler time, when humanity’s fight for survival against artificial intelligence was a movie plot and not something we debate in real life. Dancer Resting by Edgar Degas at Norton Simon, Pasadena, California I was waiting in line at Victoria’s Secret, minding my own business, when I noticed a group of young girls picking through lacy thongs. Not that I am a prude, but it bothered me. It is difficult for me to imagine lacy thongs being appropriate for young girls. They are performative underwear, designed for sexual allure, or at the very least sexual confidence. No child should need to feel sexually desirable. Where were their parents? How were they paying for them? Who was doing their laundry? They could not have been more than fifteen years old. One of them was pushing a stroller while cooing at a baby. I instinctively thought how adorable. An older sister taking care of her baby sibling. Then I heard something...

Curated: The Seduction of Gloves

There is something inherently sexy about gloves, perhaps because they understand what fashion occasionally forgets: concealment can be far more provocative than exposure. For centuries, gloves signaled propriety, status, and restraint, placing a thin barrier between the hand and everyone it might touch. The irony is exquisite. Cover something ordinarily left bare and suddenly its unveiling becomes intimate. Hollywood certainly understood the assignment. An opera glove beside a bare shoulder did not temper the seduction; it sharpened it, turning the slow removal of something as innocuous as a glove into theater. Photo by Hans on Unsplash That delicious tension between restraint and revelation is what makes gloves such compelling style makers. Satin whispers old-Hollywood glamour. Supple leather carries a certain authority. A flash of color beneath an otherwise serious coat can do more for an outfit than another strategically purchased handbag ever will. And when Autumn finally begins i...

Exhaling Life

Search This Blog