Traditional Sauce

Don Antonio's Sugo Tradizionale with Oregano from the Abruzzo

Don Antonio's Sugo Tradizionale is a savory tomato sauce from Roccascalegna, in which oregano sets the tone. Celery, carrots, onions, and garlic provide the backdrop, balancing the acidity of the tomatoes. Casina Rossa prepares this recipe unchanged in the province of Chieti, where the oregano grows wild in the hills.

Sugo Tradizionale is the savory tomato sauce from Don Antonio in Roccascalegna, Abruzzo, characterized by its prominent oregano flavor. Root vegetables round off the acidity of the tomato, garlic and pepper provide strength, and extra virgin olive oil binds it all together. Among the cheese-free varieties, it is the most robust and thus the most versatile in the kitchen.

Spicy, earthy, like a dry mountain meadow

Oregano defines the aroma from the jar, dry and resinous, just as it hangs in the air on hot afternoons in the Abruzzo hills.

The sauce tastes robust and rustic on pasta; the root vegetables balance the acidity of the tomato, while the oregano adds an earthy spiciness. Celery, carrot, onion, and garlic are layered beneath, and it is precisely this layering that gives the variety its depth.

You can clearly taste the olive oil, and that is intentional. The essential oils of oregano are fat-soluble and require oil as a carrier. A lean tomato sauce would not be able to transport this flavor profile.

Dried oregano has a more intense flavor than fresh because the essential oils concentrate during the drying process, shifting the aroma from grassy to resinous. In the Abruzzo, it is hung in bundles upside down in the shade—never in the sun, which would strip it of its color and, with it, its aroma.

On bruschetta, with pasta, alongside fish

On toasted bread, with long pasta, or as a companion to sea bream and sea bass, this sugo reveals a different side every time.

It pairs particularly well with Strozzapreti from Azienda Guerrieri, whose rough, bronze-cut surface practically absorbs the sauce; add a little pecorino on top. On toasted bread with a slice of fish, it makes for a quick dinner.

With white fish, oregano carries further than basil ever could. For this reason, this variety serves as a staple sauce in the trattorias of the Abruzzo. You can find more varieties in the Don Antonio collection, and more sauces in the Pasta Sauces category.

Oregano from the hills, dried in the shade

Oregano grows wild in the dry hills around Roccascalegna. It is harvested before the plant is in full bloom.

Dried, it seasons more intensely than fresh because the essential oils concentrate during drying, shifting the aroma from grassy to resinous. In the Abruzzo, it is hung in bundles upside down in the shade—never in the sun, which would strip it of its color and, with it, its aroma.

It is added to the jar early, unlike the basil in milder varieties, because its seasoning requires heat and time to dissolve into the olive oil. This is exactly why this sauce often tastes rounder on the second day than when freshly opened.

The tomatoes for this sauce are harvested in August, when the Francavillese reach full ripeness, and are processed on the same day so that as few hours as possible pass between the field and the jar. There was nothing to improve about the recipe, and that is the highest accolade for a staple sauce.