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fettuccine with celery and tomato sauce

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This is a terrific, simple, fragrant sauce in a Roman tradition. It is adapted from Marcella Cucina, and she advises that if you want to do as the Romans do, serve it over home-made fettucine. Note that both the stalks and the leaves of the celery are used here.

for the sauce:

three tablespoons butter
two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
one-half cup chopped onion
one clove garlic, minced
one cup chopped celery stalks
one cup chopped celery leaves
two cups imported canned, peeled tomatoes, with their juice, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
one quarter cup freshly grated pecorino Romano

for the pasta:

one pound freshly made (ideally) fettuccine or tagliatelle. (see how to make fresh egg pasta). Or penne will also work.

In a saute pan, add two tablespoons of butter, the olive oil, the onion and the garlic and heat over a medium heat until the onion turns soft.

Add the celery stalks and leaves and cook for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the chopped tomatoes and their juice, salt, plenty of pepper (this is Roman) and mix well. Cook at a good simmer for about fifteen minutes.

Get five quarts of water up to a raging boil. Add two tablespoons of salt. Add the fettuccine. Cook until al dente. Save a cup of the pasta liquid. Then drain well.

Add the fettuccine to the heated sauce. Add the tablespoon of butter. Stir thoroughly so that every strand of the pasta is well coated. Add the parmesan and stir some more. Taste for salt and pepper.

We cover the pan and heat over a medium high heat for a minute, to get the pasta steaming hot. Serve in heated bowls immediately.