My Sugo (Pure and Intense)
I don’t care what any Italian nonna tells you, this is the best and only way to make your own “sugo”. You wont find any garlic, onion, carrot, celery, wine, stock etc in this sauce. But it is truly important to use the best tomatoes. The ones pictured here were from the communal vegetable garden in my apartment block.
If you have never bothered to make your own sugo, I beg you to try. You will be very pleasantly surprised. In fact making this beautiful sauce is probably the only thing I look forward to in the summer.
Ingredients
2 kilos of beautiful red ripe tomatoes (not those insipid things from the supermarket)
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Sugar
A few basil leaves
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c.
Lay out your tomatoes onto a roasting pan (or two) and drizzle over some oil.
Bake them for 30–45 minutes until the skins have split and they are tender within. Under any circumstances do NOT allow the tomatoes to caramelize! This is not the flavour you want your sugo to have.
Allow them to rest a little and cool down. Remove the blistered skins and discard. Place the tomatoes into a wide pan, along with any of the sweet juices.
Mash the tomatoes, I just use a potato masher, and over the lowest heat allow them to reduce to sauce consistency, about 30-45 minutes. It is really important to cook the sauce on the lowest heat because tomatoes have a high sugar content, and these sugars will burn if cooked over a high heat.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Throw in the basil leaves and a generous amount of olive oil.
You will be amazed of the purity and intensity of flavours this sauce has.
A divine balance of sweet and sour. Use it for pasta, pizza etc. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days
If you have never bothered to make your own sugo, I beg you to try. You will be very pleasantly surprised. In fact making this beautiful sauce is probably the only thing I look forward to in the summer.
Ingredients2 kilos of beautiful red ripe tomatoes (not those insipid things from the supermarket)
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Sugar
A few basil leaves
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c.
Lay out your tomatoes onto a roasting pan (or two) and drizzle over some oil.
Bake them for 30–45 minutes until the skins have split and they are tender within. Under any circumstances do NOT allow the tomatoes to caramelize! This is not the flavour you want your sugo to have.
Allow them to rest a little and cool down. Remove the blistered skins and discard. Place the tomatoes into a wide pan, along with any of the sweet juices.
Mash the tomatoes, I just use a potato masher, and over the lowest heat allow them to reduce to sauce consistency, about 30-45 minutes. It is really important to cook the sauce on the lowest heat because tomatoes have a high sugar content, and these sugars will burn if cooked over a high heat.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Throw in the basil leaves and a generous amount of olive oil.
You will be amazed of the purity and intensity of flavours this sauce has.
A divine balance of sweet and sour. Use it for pasta, pizza etc. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days
