Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables

Ingredients

• 2
  
  pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, prepared as described below, or 2 cups canned tomatoes, cut up or whole, with their juice
  
• 2/3
  
  cup chopped carrot
  
• 2/3
  
  cup chopped celery
  
• 2/3
  
  cup chopped onion
  
• 
  
  Salt
  
• 1/3
  
  cup extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 to 1 1/2
  
  pounds pasta
  

Directions

1. Put the tomatoes in a saucepan, add the carrot, celery, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a slow, steady simmer for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time, occasionally mashing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon to break them down.
2. Add the olive oil and raise the heat slightly to bring the sauce to a somewhat stronger simmer. Stir occasionally, reducing the tomato to as much of a pulp as you can with the back of a spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, then taste and add more salt if you’d like.
3. To make fresh tomatoes ready for the sauce, there are two methods: the blanching method and the food mill method.
4. The blanching method: Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for a minute or less. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut them up into coarse pieces.
5. The food mill method: Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl. Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and purée.