Sugo Di Pomodoro
When I was five years old, my Mum’s Sicilian Tomato Sauce was the first recipe she taught me. This sugo is my “go-to” recipe and I use it as a base for many Sicilian dishes, such as the sugo for pasta, a delicious pizza margherita, baked fish, for cooking meatballs in and the list goes on. I love to use the Mutti ‘Polpa’ finely chopped tomatoes. They are so sweet and taste incredible. You should be able to get the Mutti brand at Coles and Safeway. Click here for the one I use for this sauce. Of course, you can use other brands as well. Or even fresh tomatoes - especially in Summer. See variation for fresh tomatoes below.
I make quite a big batch and freeze it in portions for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
Serves: 8 to 10 Sicilians
Preparation: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup | 60mL extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large handful of fresh basil leaves, gently torn
2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes (I love to use the Mutti “Polpa” finely chopped tomatoes)
1 teaspoon salt, to start with
Cracked pepper, to taste
METHOD
Pour the extra virgin olive oil in a heavy based medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for approximately 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until soft and translucent. Please don’t burn the onions (or else, you will have to start again!)
Add the garlic and basil and gently stir for 1 minute to allow the flavours to combine. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn as it will become bitter.
Add the crushed tomatoes, salt and cracked pepper and cook the sugo on a medium heat until simmering. Reduce the heat to low to simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Whilst the sugo is simmering, place a lid over the saucepan and allow a little of the steam to escape. Stir the sugo occasionally to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. If it burns, the ‘burnt flavour’ will permeate through the whole batch and render it useless!
Taste the sugo as you go along. At the 30 minute mark, check for seasoning. If you feel it needs more salt, add a little bit more to your liking. You could also add more basil too if you like.
The sugo is ready when it doesn’t taste like raw tomatoes, feels good in your mouth, and the sweetness of the tomatoes makes your taste buds sing!
Fresh tomato variation - making the ‘polpa’ and cooking tips
You may like to try making this recipe with fresh tomatoes as they are abundant right now. Roma tomatoes would be an excellent choice. However, you could try with whatever you have on hand. Just replace these fresh tomatoes instead of the canned ones in the recipe.
The key task is to remove the tomato skins and be left with a wonderful pulp under the skin. This is a very therapeutic process if you want to really slow down and enjoy cooking in the moment.
Begin by taking 800g-1kg of fresh tomatoes and, with a sharp pointed knife, cut a ‘cross’ into the base of the tomato. Then, put the tomatoes into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until the skins slowly lift. (They do not need to lift off entirely).
Transfer these tomatoes into a bowl of ice water. Set aside to cool. When cool, peel the skins off with your fingers or a knife. Chop the flesh into small pieces and make sure you keep all the juice (as it tends to drip off the chopping board - that’s the liquid gold we want to keep as well as the flesh!) and put in a bowl. You are now ready to make the sugo di pomodoro with the recipe above.
Leaving the skins on: If you don’t want to go to the trouble of taking the skins off the tomato, and you are happy to eat the skins in your sauce, just chop the tomatoes into bite size pieces. This is also a very valid method which I have done many times!
Cooking time: Fresh tomato polpa does take a little longer to cook. You may like to break them up with a potato masher during the cooking process if you don’t want the sauce chunky. All up to you! Just taste as you go along to make sure you are happy with the flavour and it is cooked to your liking.