Neapolitan Sauce

Don Antonio's Sugo alla Napoletana with onions and basil

Don Antonio's Sugo alla Napoletana is a ready-to-use tomato sauce from the Abruzzo region, in which onions, celery, and carrots are slowly sweated in olive oil before the tomatoes are added. In Roccascalegna, Casina Rossa packages it in 480-milliliter milk bottles topped with a white paper hood. In Naples, this sauce has always been known as Pommarola.

Sugo alla Napoletana is the ready-to-use tomato sauce by Don Antonio from Roccascalegna in the province of Chieti, which has always been called Pommarola in Naples. Onions, celery, and carrots give it depth, basil provides freshness, and black pepper adds a gentle heat. The tomatoes are added to the jar roughly chopped rather than puréed, meaning you can still find identifiable pieces in the sauce.

Fruity, savory, with a subtle peppery kick

With the first spoonful, you taste sweet tomatoes and sautéed onions, followed by fresh basil and a fine hint of black pepper.

Small pieces of tomato provide texture instead of a smooth creaminess, as the Francavillese tomatoes are hand-trimmed and roughly chopped, not puréed. In this pear tomato, sweetness and acidity are perfectly balanced, and they are grown on small plots in the hilly landscape behind the coast.

The olive oil is a foundational element here rather than just fat, as it absorbs the roasted aromas of the onion and celery and carries them throughout the pasta. In the cold jar, it sits on top as a clear film, but in a warm pan, it integrates completely into the sauce.

For spaghetti, pizza dough, or ragù

Classically, this sugo is served with long pasta, spread thinly under pizza dough, or used as a base for a quick tomato soup.

It finds its natural partner with Spaghetti n.7 from Azienda Guerrieri, cooked al dente and tossed with plenty of sauce—served with a piece of bread to mop up what’s left on the plate. Add minced meat and it becomes a ragù; add eggplant and zucchini and it turns into a ratatouille.

A 480-milliliter jar is enough for four plates of pasta and can easily be halved. Warmed rather than boiled, the basil retains its freshness, and the tomato pieces don’t break down into mush. You can add cheese if you like, but it isn't necessary, as the sauce is flavorful enough on its own. Other varieties are available in the Don Antonio collection, and more sauces can be found in our Pasta Sauces section.

The soffritto as the foundation of the Pommarola

Onions, celery, and carrots are sweated in olive oil before the tomatoes are added. This soffritto is the foundation of every Neapolitan sauce.

By sweating them slowly, the trio loses its sharpness and releases a sweetness that later balances the acidity of the tomato. If this step is skipped, a tomato sauce tastes thin and sharp because it lacks a proper base. That is exactly why onions, celery, and carrots are listed early in these ingredients, right after tomatoes and olive oil.

The tomatoes are added afterwards, roughly chopped rather than puréed, and cooked only until the pieces are soft but remain intact. The basil is added just before bottling so that its essential oils do not evaporate and some of that fresh character makes it into the jar.

The red-and-white striped label bears the words "La ricetta originale del Signor Don Antonio." Below it is the sentiment that good pasta requires passion, the right sugo, and the cheerful company of friends. There is little to add to that.