The Quick And Easy Pasta Sauce We Can't Stop Making

Sauce is an integral part of any pasta dish — taking a neutral vessel like pasta noodles, and elevating them to, potentially, "best meal I've ever eaten" status. And you don't even need to toil over a hot stove, carefully mixing and adding ingredients, to create an amazing sauce. Not according to Makenna Held, CEO of RecipeKick and steward of Julia Child's former summer vacation home "La Peetch," plus the Courageous Cooking School held there.

One of her favorite sauces, which she shared exclusively to Daily Meal, only requires four ingredients: Olive oil, garlic, kalamata olives, and cherry tomatoes. She says to start, "in a skillet over medium-low heat, heat olive oil with sliced garlic, and cherry tomatoes. As the tomatoes soften, smoosh with a spoon or masher. The tomatoes will burst" and the liquid will then create the base. She goes on to say: "Stir in cut olives and you have a sauce!" If you like a bit of cheese, she also suggests topping it with grated parmesan.

According to Makenna Held sauces don't have to be complex. She says, "Find three to five things that go well together, and create balance." Held's easy pasta sauce exemplifies this mandate perfectly. The olives add a small amount of natural acidity and a bit of saltiness because of their brine. Meanwhile, the cherry tomatoes also add a little acidity, plus some sweetness to balance out the other flavors. As for the garlic, well, who doesn't like garlic?

If you're not an olive and tomato fan, Held also offers some general guidance to make your own quick and simple pasta sauces. She says most have "a beautiful balance of three things: acid, fat, and aromatics." She uses cacio e pepe as an example, saying of its three ingredients that the "aged cheese provides fat and acid, butter provides more fat, and pepper provides something aromatic."