Spaghetti Sauce the Way Kids Like It

The kids love this one, and sometimes adults do too. It's so simple. Every once in a while it's nice to eat a meal that requires no sophistication whatsoever, or maybe you have kids coming over who are incredibly picky. (Maybe you made the mistake of having my kids over for dinner.)
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In the picture below you will notice that I foolishly tried to throw in some zucchini, and for that I apologize. It was a bad idea. Save the overflowing zucchini for something else because it has no place here.

The only drawback is it requires a food mill. There may be ways to get around this, like pressing the tomatoes through a sieve, but that sounds like more effort than it's worth. So if you have the food mill, please continue. 

This is from The Classic Italian Cook Book by Marcella Hazan. It is romantically entitled "Tomato Sauce III". ​

Ingredients:
2 pounds of ripe plum tomatoes (or in my case, sad little shriveled-up San Marzanos that my mother declared nearly too bitter to eat)
1/4 pound butter (yes, that's an entire stick! Doesn't sound very Italian, but whatever)
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
​1-1/4 teaspoons salt
a pinch of sugar

Directions:
Cut the tomatoes in half and put them in a saucepan. Bring them to a boil and let them simmer for 10 minutes. (I always think I am missing something, but tomatoes are so juicy that this works.) After 10 minutes, put them through the food mill to remove all the seeds and skins, and them put the pulp back in the saucepan. Add in the butter, onion, salt and sugar. Simmer for 45 minutes, then remove the onion and taste for salt. 

​Done! Vegetable free if you pretend it isn't made of tomatoes, rich, and slightly sweet. This is the perfect amount for a pound of pasta.