Pomodoro e Basilico – Tomato Basil Sauce

Method

Soffritto

1. Crush the garlic with a chef knife and saute at low heat in the pan with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. Your pan should be coated with a thin layer of oil.

Pomodoro

1. Once your kitchen smells like garlic, it's time to add the Mutti® Puree (Passata) or Mutti® Chopped Tomatoes. The garlic should be slightly browned. Stir in a pinch of salt and turn the heat to medium to bring the sauce to a slow boil. Once it boils, stir it a few times, bring the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes stirring once in a while.

Basilico

1. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt as needed. Shut off the heat. Add the basil leaves as they are, you can also add small bunches of basil with the stems and discard those later. The stems have flavor too!

Plate

1. Got some pasta? Use your choice of pasta to add to this red sauce! Mangia!

Consigli - Tips from Chef Andrea

1. If you took one of my handmade pasta or gnocchi classes, this is the sauce I always suggest making. You can use it right away, store it in the fridge for a few days or freeze it. If you don’t feel want to use garlic, you can use half of an onion, finely chopped or sliced. My nonna Anna sometimes adds half a carrot and half onion to add some extra flavor.
2. Need some cheese? Si! Use grated Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano or shaved Ricotta Salata and it will be just perfetto! You only need less than 20 minutes to make this sauce, so you can create it on the fly but I suggest making it ahead of time, even the day before so that the tomato can soak in all the flavors from the aglio (garlic) and the basilico (basil). Make sure to get GREAT basil!