Good Tomato Sauce recipes are always worth making double batches of. They can double as healthy dips, make the bases for soups and be tossed with rice or roasted veg for a quick side. This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Yields enough sauce for 11⁄2 pounds pasta

2 pounds fresh, ripe beefsteak tomatoes, quartered
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
Salt to taste

Place the tomatoes in a saucepan with the butter, onion and a big pinch of salt. Cook covered at a very slow but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down and begun to stick to the pot and the onion has softened completely.

Pass through a food mill then return to pot. Simmer until sauce has thickened to your liking. Taste and correct for salt.

Toss with cooked gnocchi, and season to taste with shavings of Par- migiano-Reggiano, fresh basil, salt and freshly cracked black pepper.