What a difficult time we are in right now. I am sure many of us are cooking from the pantry, and perhaps you are trying to figure out what to do with that can of whatever you once bought for a recipe you never ended up making, and you can’t even remember what that recipe was!

Here the sauce includes some ground meat.

It’s also a strange feeling to have two unplanned weeks off. All the schools in my area are closed until at least March 30, and there is no distance teaching for the time being. While I always like a surprise day off for a snowstorm – or maybe even two for a real honest-to-goodness blizzard – it’s weird to be faced with available time and nothing pressing to do.

So in an effort to give structure to my days and to offer some ideas for meals with things I hope people have in the house, I’m starting a series of Pantry Recipes!

We happen to have a ton of pasta in the pantry – 20 boxes, plus a few other bags of unusual regional shapes. And not because we went out and “panic-shopped” for it. Whenever Hank sees one of our favorite brands of pasta is on sale, he decides he should buy some, without realizing how many boxes we already have. He thought we only had a few boxes of shapes until I pointed out that was only the first of three rows! We also usually have a good supply of 28-ounce cans of tomatoes, and I am here to tell you that if you have a can of tomatoes and an onion you can make a sauce that will be far better than what comes in a jar and none of the added sugar that many brands have. (If chopping an onion feels like too much to do, email me for a 26-second video that’ll show you an easy way!)

The recipe follows with variations to accommodate what you have. You could even leave out the garlic, oregano, and thyme and it’d still be good! And at the end there are suggestions for other additions.

Basic Tomato Sauce for Pasta

NB: For the can of tomatoes, I prefer crushed, but anything works. Tomato purée is also easy and will make a smoother sauce. However whole, peeled tomatoes will need to be crushed by hand before adding to the pan. Be careful – they often squirt when crushed!

olive oil as needed
1 medium onion, chopped
pinch of salt
1 large clove garlic chopped or put through a garlic press
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon thyme
½ cup water or chicken broth or dry white wine or red wine
28-ounce can tomatoes (see above for a note on this)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the onion, sprinkle with salt, and sauté until beginning to brown. Add garlic and herbs, and sauté for about a minute, stirring so that garlic doesn’t brown. Add liquid to deglaze the pan, and stir, scraping up the bits stuck to the pan. Add tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from sticking, for 20 minutes or more.

Optional additions, any or all:

½ shredded carrot – add after onions have softened
½ pound ground beef, loose sausage – add after onions have softened; be sure to cook off any liquid that is given off so that some browning can occur
meatballs, whole sausage – add after onions have softened; turn while onions continue to cook so they can brown a bit
chopped mushrooms – add after onions have browned; sprinkle with salt and cook until all liquid has evaporated (NB: mushrooms give off a lot of liquid, so if you use mushrooms the liquid they give off can be used for deglazing, and unless you are using something that will add flavor, like broth or wine, you will not need to add any water)

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You don’t have to use tomato sauce from a jar!