In Italy, in a pinch, you can make a marinara sauce using just tomato paste which, in Sicily, is called estratto di pomodoro and is sundried. Yes, it tastes a lot better than what we get here, either in a tube or a can. But since all three of the possible tomato ingredients in a marinara— paste, canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes—are all second-rate compared to the real deal, I thought that using all three might just get me across the finish line with a marinara that has some oomph and flavor.

The three ingredients are added in order: first the paste along with garlic, a quarter cup of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook the paste down for about five minutes or until it starts to stick to the bottom of the skillet. Next up are the crushed tomatoes. Some folks here at Milk Street are keen on whole canned tomatoes since they feel the flavor is fresher, but in this case we are cooking them down with one cup water for another 15 minutes and crushed are easier to use than whole.

The cherry tomatoes are chopped and salted while cooking the first two tomato ingredients. They are added with their juices (we use a bowl, not a colander), one tablespoon butter (butter and tomatoes are a perfect match; Marcella Hazan said so!) and a quarter cup of reserved pasta water; the pasta has been cooked separately at this point. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add to the pot of reserved cooked pasta. Over medium heat, toss the pasta constantly for a couple of minutes, adding more pasta cooking water if need be. The tossing is critical since it helps create an emulsion that will properly coat the pasta. (Most home cooks toss two or three times and move on.)

A final note. Many Italian home cooks use nothing more than bottled passata, a strained tomato puree, plus a clove or two of garlic that is lightly browned in extra-virgin olive oil and then removed, plus some basil leaves at the end. They do have a long list of more pungent, evocative tomato sauces but this is the everyday standard. As Italians often say, the pasta always comes first, not the sauce, but I offer this marinara in an attempt to seduce home cooks into a marinara with real character.

Chris Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."