Pasta brings comfort to any meal, and it’s easy to make when you’ve had a busy day. You don’t need to make anything fancy, sometimes all you need is some well-cooked pasta and a simple tomato sauce.

If you’re bored of plain tomato pasta sauces, a recipe developer shared the ingredient she uses to elevate the comfort food. In fact, it’s been so transformative, she’ll never go back.

The secret ingredient for elevating the simplest of tomato sauces is fresh vanilla beans scraped from the pod. In a recent TikTok video, the developer said: “This is the best tomato pasta I have ever made, and the secret ingredient is something everyone has in their kitchen but would never think to put in a savoury dish.”

Simply scrap out the seeds and add to the pasta sauce.

When testing out a forkful of pasta, she said: “That is absolutely incredible. This is why I love food, this is why I love travelling, this is why I love learning new things, because I would have never thought to do this - and now I never want to do it a different way.”

The recipe developer took inspiration from Marcella Harzan’s three-ingredient pasta sauce recipe, which has often been dubbed the “best” and simplest pasta sauce you can make. The developer agreed that this recipe is “unbeaten”.

The only difference she makes is that on top of the main three ingredients of tinned tomatoes, onion and butter, she adds in fresh vanilla. She explained: “This is something I learned at a vanilla farm in Mauritius. And if you didn’t know, vanilla is actually a spice, not inherently sweet.

“So whilst it seems strange, it actually adds something to the sauce that I’ve never tried or tasted before, and I’m so excited for you to give it a go. It’s delicious and interesting but still exceptionally easy.

“It’s the sort of recipe that makes you feel like a professional chef, even if you’re just cooking from your own kitchen.”

The developer’s video has already been viewed over 7,827 times, receiving 388 likes and 13 comments, at the time of writing. A viewer said: “Ooooo that sounds so interesting, I must try!!”

A viewer commented: “This is SO CLEVER.”

A viewer simply wrote, “Wild,” while another agreed, “Gotttta try this.”

If you’re looking for an innovative way to shake up your next homemade pasta sauce, here’s how you can recreate the developer’s take at home.

Ingredients

To serve

Method

Add the tinned tomatoes, onion, butter and vanilla to a pan over a medium heat. Let that simmer away for 40 to 45 minutes, adding a splash of water if needed.

Taste and season with salt to your deserved preference.

Cook the pasta until just before al dente. Remove the onions from the sauce then add the pasta to the pan along with a little pasta water.

Stir and toss together, cooking for a final couple of minutes until the pasta is al dente.