Basil Sauce

Don Antonio's Sugo al Basilico with root vegetables and herbs

Don Antonio’s Sugo al Basilico is the classic tomato sauce from the Abruzzo region, featuring a foundation of celery, carrots, and onions, with fresh basil providing a vibrant finish. It is the signature base recipe from the Casina Rossa manufactory in Roccascalegna, from which all other varieties were developed, and it is the most understated selection on our shelves.

Sugo al Basilico is Don Antonio’s classic tomato sauce from Roccascalegna in the Abruzzo region and serves as the manufactory's foundational recipe. Celery, carrots, and onions form the base, basil adds freshness, and extra virgin olive oil ties everything together. This is how tomato sauce tastes before you add chili, peppers, or cheese.

Sweet, herbal, and velvety all at once

When you open the jar, notes of warm basil and sautéed root vegetables emerge, accompanied by a subtle sweetness derived from the carrots.

The sauce has a velvety, well-rounded texture when served over pasta. The olive oil carries the roasted aromas of the celery and onions, while the basil remains fresh on the palate. Although there is only a small amount in the jar, the herb is the defining element that holds everything together—and the reason why this variety never tastes flat.

Out of the six varieties on our shelves, this is the most understated: tomato, root vegetables, herb—that is all there is in the jar. It is precisely this restraint that makes it the most versatile. It pairs just as well with strong cheese as it does with a knob of butter or a spoonful of cream, and it never overpowers anything else on the plate.

For spaghetti, lasagna, and vegetable gratin

This jar finds its place as a pasta sauce, a base for lasagna, or as a sugo under a gratin of zucchini and eggplant.

With Linguine Aglio e Basilico from Pasta Morelli, garlic and basil appear twice—in both the pasta and the sauce. For lasagna, it can be layered directly with béchamel; for a gratin, it works perfectly on its own over the vegetables.

Any leftovers can be turned into tomato soup the next day by adding broth. That is the value of a base recipe: it can be built upon in any direction.

Those cooking for children will appreciate this variety for being free of spice and cheese while still being full of flavor. And for those short on time in the evening, you need little more than water, salt, and this jar. The other varieties can be found in the Don Antonio collection, and more in our Pasta Sauces section.

Why the basil goes in last

Basil releases its essential oils even at low heat, which is why it is folded into this recipe only just before bottling.

If cooked for too long, the herb loses its fresh character within minutes, taking on a hay-like taste. The small amount in the jar would then have nothing left to offer. By adding it late, the very freshness that defines this variety and distinguishes it from its spicier siblings is preserved.

The root vegetables follow the opposite path: celery, carrots, and onions are sweated in olive oil for a long time until their sharpness disappears and only the sweetness remains. It is this foundation that rounds out the tomato. Two temperatures, two different times, one jar.

The Francavillese, the Abruzzo pear tomato, had almost vanished from the fields by the end of the 1970s, displaced by more robust commercial hybrids. That it is back in jars like this one today is thanks to the farms around Roccascalegna.