Spicing up the mid-week dinner routine can be a real chore, especially when you’re knackered after work and not in the mood to slave away in the kitchen.

But there’s a pasta sauce that’s been dubbed the ‘world’s best’ and it’s ridiculously easy to make, with just three ingredients. It’s said to be bursting with flavour despite its simplicity, which sounds like a dream come true. So, our very own Mirror writer Grace Hoffman decided to roll up her sleeves and put it to the test.

Grace, who admits she’s a bit of a “lazy” chef and values convenience above all in the kitchen, was intrigued by the sauce’s promise of simplicity. Considering she eats so much pasta it might as well be part of her DNA, she couldn’t resist giving this recipe a whirl.

The late American food writer Marcella Hazan, who passed away in 1992, always maintained that a top-notch pasta sauce doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. Her iconic 1992 recipe has been lauded by foodies and chefs, with Delish even proclaiming it ‘the best in the world‘.

You can find this culinary gem in Marcella’s book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. It’s astonishingly straightforward, calling for nothing more than tinned tomatoes, an onion, and a good chunk of butter.

To whip it up, Marcella’s method is simple: pop half a peeled onion into a pot with the butter and tinned tomatoes, then let it simmer away for 45 minutes. I confess, I was initially doubtful. After all, it was just a tomato sauce recipe, something I’ve eaten countless times before, writes Grace.

So, I wondered, ‘How could this sauce be any different?’ Nevertheless, I made my way to the local supermarket to gather the ingredients. I already had butter at home, so all I needed to buy were tinned tomatoes and an onion, which cost me a mere 78p.

Keen to get started, I arranged my three ingredients on the kitchen counter, ready for preparation. That’s when I hit a snag.

I had to double-check the recipe several times, but it turned out that there was no need to chop any vegetables for this dish – and from that point on, I was hooked, regardless of how it tasted. The delightfully simple instructions directed me to add half an onion whole, removing it only at the end of cooking.

Sounds ingenious to me. The cooking process was incredibly straightforward – I put a knob of butter in my pan and let it melt.

Then, I added my tinned tomatoes and stirred them in. Next, I added half an onion (no chopping required!) to the mix. As a personal touch, I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Then, it was time to let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes.

During this time, I checked on the sauce occasionally, stirring it to prevent any lumps from forming. With just a little time left, I boiled some water and prepared some spaghetti.

Once everything was prepared, I drained my pasta and transferred it to a bowl, removed the onion from the sauce, and generously ladled the sauce over the spaghetti. It was time to sample my delightfully simple creation.

To my surprise, the first bite was quite impressive. You might think that a sauce made with just three basic ingredients would lack depth of flavour – but you’d be mistaken!

The sauce was incredibly flavoursome, with the taste of the onion coming through even though it had been removed before serving. But did the sauce live up to its reputation as the ‘world’s best’?

While it may not be the finest pasta sauce I’ve ever tasted, as it essentially tasted like an enhanced version of your standard tomato sauce, it was certainly convenient. And that’s always a plus.

It could also easily be jazzed up with additional ingredients if you wanted to use it as a base. Thanks to its convenience, affordability, and delicious taste, Marcella’s iconic sauce has undoubtedly revolutionised my pasta dinners.

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