Don Antonio Sughi from Casina Rossa in Abruzzo
Don Antonio is the sugo line from the Casina Rossa manufactory in Roccascalegna, in the province of Chieti, where the De Laurentiis family has been preserving tomato sauce since the 1960s. The series includes over 20 recipes; we carry six of them, all in 480-milliliter milk bottles with white paper caps and red ribbon.
Don Antonio is the sugo line from the Italian manufactory Casina Rossa in Abruzzo, named after the grandfather of the current owners. The foundation is the Francavillese, a pear tomato with a meaty interior and few seeds, which ripens in the hilly hinterland of Chieti. Each variety is simmered in olive oil and bottled in a container that resembles a classic milk bottle.
A farmer from Roccascalegna and his wooden spoon
In the 1960s, Don Antonio was a farmer in Roccascalegna, a town in the province of Chieti, and he loved to cook more than anything.
He preserved what grew in his own fields in jars. His wife, Antonia, took these jars to the weekly markets of Roccascalegna and Chieti and to neighborhood shops, and because the demand never ceased, the farm kitchen gradually turned into a business.
In 1999, son Nicola took over the farm and has run it ever since with his wife, Paola, supported by their two sons, Marco and Andrea. Three generations, then, and the name on the label still belongs to the first. Because demand grew beyond Italy, a dedicated production facility just for the sauces was built in 2018.
The farm is called Casina Rossa, the little red house, and it is located outside the town between the fields on Via Solagne. Several lines are produced side-by-side under this roof: antipasti, pesto, and salts under the farm’s name, and the sauces under the grandfather’s.
Don Antonio is therefore less a brand than a dedication. Anyone opening a bottle today has a recipe in their pot that was once intended for a single family and found its way from the weekly market in Roccascalegna to our shelves.
Six sughi from a range of over twenty
The Don Antonio line includes over 20 sugo recipes, from marinara and puttanesca to sugo with saffron. We have six of them on our shelves.
The Sugo alla Napoletana is the Neapolitan pommarola with onions, celery, and carrots—rounded and vegetable-forward, the variety most people start with. Things are more purist with the Sugo Tradizionale, where oregano sets the tone, or with the Sugo al Basilico, the manufactory’s base recipe with fresh basil.
It gets heartier with the Sugo alla Toscana, seasoned only with garlic and sweet bell pepper, making it the most direct in flavor. In the Sugo all'Arrabbiata, 2 percent chili and plenty of garlic provide the heat. The creamiest of the bunch is the Sugo al Basilico e Pecorino, the only one of our six varieties with cheese in the recipe.
Five of the six are free of animal ingredients; only the Basilico e Pecorino contains ricotta and Pecorino Romano in the jar. If you want to sample them, it is best to start with the Napoletana and work your way up to the Arrabbiata.
The differences lie less in the tomato than in what is added or omitted. Napoletana, Basilico, and Tradizionale are built on a soffritto of onion, celery, and carrot, the sweetness of which offsets the acidity of the fruit. Toscana and Arrabbiata skip this, making them significantly more direct.
A pear tomato, removed from the stem by hand
The Francavillese is a pear tomato from Abruzzo: meaty, low-seed, with a balance of sweetness and acidity that feels neither bland nor overpowering.
It grows on small plots in the hilly hinterland behind the coast, where the nights remain cool enough for the fruit to retain its acidity. It is harvested by hand in August and processed on the same day, so that there are as few hours as possible between the field and the jar.
At Casina Rossa, the tomatoes are destemmed by hand and cut into rough chunks rather than puréed. They are then simmered gently with onions in olive oil. The fact that the chunks are still visible in the finished jar is intentional: they give the sauce texture instead of smooth creaminess.
By the end of the 1970s, this variety had almost disappeared from the fields, displaced by sturdier commercial hybrids. It is thanks to farms like this that it is back in jars today. The ingredient lists remain correspondingly short: just six items for the Sugo alla Toscana, and eight for the Arrabbiata.
Sugar is not listed on any of the six labels. The sweetness in the jars comes from the fruit itself and from the root vegetables, which have been sweated long enough. The olive oil comes from the region and binds the flavors rather than just sitting alongside as fat.
The milk bottle as a trademark
Instead of ordinary jars, the sughi come in a bottle whose shape is reminiscent of old-fashioned milk bottles, sealed with a white paper cap and red ribbon.
In these exact bottles, Abruzzese families once stored their preserved sauce for the winter. At Don Antonio, this has become the trademark of the entire range: 480 milliliters, red-and-white striped label, the name written in script. The only difference between the six varieties is the labeling.
Every label reads “La ricetta originale del Signor Don Antonio,” followed by the sentence that good pasta requires his passion, his sugo, and the cheerful company of friends. A motto that can also be read as an invitation.
Beyond the sauces, the house has gained recognition: their organic ketchup was awarded by the International Taste Institute in 2021. We don’t carry it, but it shows the care with which they work here.
For pasta, pizza, and soup
All six varieties are suitable as a sauce for pasta, spread thinly under pizza dough, or as a base for a quick tomato soup.
The more classic varieties go well with long pasta like spaghetti and linguine, while the creamy Basilico e Pecorino pairs well with tube pasta, as the cheese clings to the ridges. Matching pasta can be found in the pasta collection from Azienda Guerrieri, whose rough bronze-cut surface holds onto each of these sauces.
A 480-milliliter jar is enough for four plates. When warmed rather than boiled, the herbs and tomato pieces remain as they are. You can find more sauces from other producers in the Pasta Sauces section.
Beyond pasta, each of the six serves as a foundation: extended with ground meat to make a ragù, cooked further with vegetables for a ratatouille, or thinned with broth for a soup. If you have a jar in your pantry, you have half of a meal ready for a busy evening.
One final note for the pan: the sauces should be warmed, not boiled. Basil loses its freshness within minutes, and the ricotta in the Basilico e Pecorino can curdle if the heat is too high. A brief warming is sufficient for all six.
This way, there is a suitable variety for every plate, and no two sauces taste the same. Start with the Napoletana, and the rest will follow.
