All this is all very well, but the best pasta sauce I've had is according to the ancient poverty stricken peasant recipe we acquired from an Italian medico friend whose family had been, well, poverty stricken peasants for at least the last two thousand years. It can be made while you're cooking the pasta, costs a couple of dollars to make, is tasty and fresh. And authentic, if you like that sort of thing.
Authentic Hungry Peasant's Pasta Sauce:
You need: (enough sauce to be a lot for one, generous for two, or enough for three large serves of pasta)
- two large onions, coarsely chopped
- two cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- one tin of peeled, or peeled and chopped tomatoes
- some dried oregano and grated parmesan are extra bonuses if you like
Brown the garlic in some olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the onions and cook for a minute or so, but don't let the onions brown. Add the tomatoes, and simmer until the sauce is thick. If you're using whole chopped tomatoes, it might be an idea to poke them a bit with a spoon to break them up a little. The important thing is for the onions to be tender and cooked but still strong tasting. Cutting them in fairly large pieces helps, the sauce should be chunky. Pour the sauce onto pasta, and feel free to add a little dried oregano. (It's perfectly authentic peasant stuff as well, after all it grows like a weed in hot dry gardens.)
Ludicrously easy, fast and good.