tomato sauce for a lazy friday

I have long admired the recipes on Smitten Kitchen, but I've never cooked anything. Until now. You see, while the receipes are delicious and her pictures incredible, the recipes always seem a little unobtainable for a weekday meal and I tend to turn to hardcopy recipe books, not the internet, when I'm looking for a 'special' meal. But then the other day she posted about "the best" tomato sauce. No garlic, no red wine, not even any sugar - just onion, tinned tomatoes and butter. Well, on a lazy Friday night with a bottle of red wine, my knitting and a movie, I had to try it.

It is incredibly simple. And whilst not the best tomato sauce (I reserve that for my Mum's roast cherry tomato sauce with roast garlic, olive oil and basil), it comes pretty close. And believe me, it couldn't be simpler.

Ingredients:

800g whole tinned tomatoes (best you can find)

70g butter

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced into two

Directions:

Pour tinned tomatoes (including juice) into a medium saucepan. Add onion and butter. Allow to simmer for approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to break down the tomatoes. When the fat floats to the top of the sauce, it's ready. Discard the onion, salt to taste and serve.

Delicious and so, so easy. Pretty sure this will become the base of all my tomato sauce recipes from now - I'm considering making some more today and freezing it. Yum!