I tried 'world's best pasta sauce' recipe and was shocked by how easy it is

Pasta is a dish I hold dear to my heart, and I love the process of preparing it at home as much as I enjoy ordering it in restaurants.

However, mastering a flavourful sauce can be quite challenging, with countless recipes available, so it's tough to tell which ones will yield the best results.

That was until I stumbled upon a recipe that boasts the title of being the 'best in the world'.

Intrigued by this bold claim, I felt compelled to try it out and determine its authenticity.

This acclaimed recipe was created by chef Marcella Hazan in 1992 for her book The Essentials of Italian Cooking.

To my surprise, it only calls for three ingredients - tinned plum tomatoes, an onion and butter, along with some salt for seasoning, the Daily Record reports.

My initial reaction was disbelief - no garlic? Could it truly be that good?

Despite my scepticism, I decided to give it a whirl, and the recipe itself couldn't have been more straightforward. The procedure simply involves combining all the ingredients in a pot and allowing it to simmer for 45 minutes, without any need for chopping.

I bought all the necessary ingredients from my local Lidl and set to work. It felt odd tossing a halved onion into the pot without first chopping it, but I did appreciate the absence of the usual tear-inducing ordeal associated with many other dishes.

The tomatoes were added next, crushed with the back of a wooden spoon for extra smoothness, along with a generous dollop of butter. The recipe called for five tablespoons, but due to the hardness of the newly purchased block, an estimated amount was sliced off and it seemed to work just fine.

The only task left was to season with salt and allow the sauce to simmer on a very low heat for 45 minutes. At this point, it looked more like a watery onion soup, but patience allowed the sauce to reduce into something far richer and tastier.

As the sauce neared completion, the pasta was set to boil with some water reserved to help the sauce stick to it. Following instructions, the onion was removed and everything mixed together.

Despite its simplicity, the sauce was packed with flavour, with the onion taste coming through strongly. It lacked the acidity often associated with chopped tomatoes, and its ease of preparation was a definite plus.

Marcella's book suggests serving with grated parmesan, which was delightful, but it would have been equally good without it. Enough pasta was prepared for three servings, and the ratio of pasta to sauce was spot on.

As to whether it's the 'best in the world', that's not for me to say until I've sampled every pasta sauce out there. But this simple recipe will certainly be making regular appearances in my kitchen.

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