First, process the canned tomatoes. You can use a food mill, or food processor, it’s up to you.  The above photo shows the food mill approach. This results in a nicely pureed pan of tomato sauce.

Microplane the garlic so you end up wioth a nice fine paste with tiny easily desolvable (is that a word) 2 Tbsp of garlic.

Put the butter and olive oil in a medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat until the butter has melted.

Dump in the garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, and large pinch salt and cook, stirring frequently until fragrant, but not browned. 2 – 3 minutes.

Add in the pureed tomatoes, basil sprigs, and chopped onions. I know the original recipe calls for onion halves that are removed later, but hey, I was planning on putting onions on the pie anyway, so I chopped them up and added them to the sauce.  Whatever floats your boat.

Bring the sauce to a simmer, then continue to cook on low until it has reduced by half.That’s it for the sauce.  You can put it in a fridge or freezer safe container and save it for later (up to 2 weeks in the fridge), or use it immediately.