Transform basic pasta and red sauce into a thoughtful and hearty dish that your sweetie will love.

This classic Italian-American red sauce uses canned tomatoes (whole canned tomatoes provide better flavor than crushed canned tomatoes) and is ready in under an hour.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small white onion, diced

4 cloves crushed garlic (add extra for more garlic flavor)    

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more to taste)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)

1 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled San Marzano-style tomatoes

1 large sprig fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried kosher salt

1 tablespoons unsalted butter

Prepare the tomatoes:

Open tomatoes, but do not drain. If you do not have an immersion blender or prefer not to use one, dump tomatoes and juices into a bowl and use your hands or a potato masher to crush tomatoes, then set aside. If using an immersion blender, skip this step.

Sauté onions:

Using a large pot, sauté onions in olive oil over medium-high heat until they soften and become translucent.

Add garlic and spices:

Add the garlic and continue cooking until the garlic begins to sizzle, then add red pepper flakes, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. When garlic turns light brown, add oregano and Italian seasoning, and cook for another minute before adding tomato paste.

Incorporate tomato paste:

Cook for an additional three minutes or until tomato paste softens and blends with oil.

Add tomatoes:

Stir in canned tomatoes and their juices, then bring to a simmer. If tomatoes were not crushed before cooking, use an immersion blender to blend until the sauce is smooth.

Simmer:

Add dried or fresh basil and simmer for about 30 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly and allow flavors to blend and deepen.

Finish the sauce:

Drop unsalted butter into the sauce and stir until melted and incorporated.