Tomato Sauce Mamma Mia

Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia, Italianavera's Sofi-Award-winning sauce with eggplant

Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia by Italianavera is a tomato sauce featuring hand-cut eggplant, named after the spontaneous exclamation made upon the first taste. In 2015, the sauce was a finalist in the New York Sofi Awards, one of the most prestigious honors in the U.S. specialty food industry.

The Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia from Italianavera is a savory tomato sauce made with fresh, hand-cut eggplant, premium extra virgin olive oil, and a hint of basil, based on a classic recipe of Sicilian origin. It owes its name to a spontaneous reaction: those who tasted it for the first time would instinctively cry out "Mamma mia!", and the name stuck. In 2015, an expert jury confirmed this impression when the sauce reached the finals of the Sofi Awards in New York.

Full-bodied, earthy, and savory

Hand-cut eggplant gives this Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia its character: full-bodied, earthy, and savory all at once, with clearly visible pieces in every bite. Unlike finely pureed sauces, each piece of eggplant remains identifiable—sometimes softer, sometimes with a bit of bite, depending on how long it was simmered.

When you warm the sauce briefly in a pan, its full aroma unfolds within 10 minutes, robust enough for a full portion of baked pasta. If you like, sprinkle some freshly grated Provolone on top before serving, just as the recipe suggests. One jar is plenty for 2 to 3 servings, depending on how generously you distribute the sauce over the pasta.

Versatile use, no limits to your imagination

Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia is perfect for baked pasta, lasagna, or macaroni, as well as penne with Provolone, exactly as the original recipe intends. There are hardly any limits to your imagination—use it as a base for a quick eggplant Parmigiana, as a filling for baked zucchini, or simply enjoy it as is with crusty bread. It also works surprisingly well as a topping for a quick baked potato or as a base for a hearty vegetable stir-fry.

If you are looking for the related version with "Napoleta" packaging and a connection to Pasta alla Norma, you will find it in the Sugo alla Siciliana, or if you prefer a sauce without any eggplant at all, reach for the Tomato Basil Sauce from Italianavera. More sauces and tomatoes from Campania can be found in the Pasta, Risotto and Sugo category in the shop.

Diana Attianese and the exclamation that became a name

The name is Diana Attianese’s own description of the taste experience: anyone who tries this sauce for the first time can hardly avoid exclaiming "Mamma mia!", she says. This unfiltered, direct reaction was more important to her than any invented product name, and so the exclamation simply stuck. "Mamma mia, how good that tastes," is how Diana Attianese describes the moment that gave the sauce its name.

In 2015, an international expert jury confirmed this impression when Italianavera's Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia advanced to the final round of the Sofi Awards of the American Specialty Food Association in New York, one of the most prestigious awards in the U.S. specialty food industry. Diana Attianese founded Italianavera in 2014, having grown up among the tomato fields of San Marzano sul Sarno, where her father was already working in the canning industry.

When you taste Tomaten Sugo Mamma Mia today, you are tasting a sauce that once made it to the big stage of the American specialty food scene without losing its uncomplicated, homemade character. It is exactly this blend of award-winning quality and everyday practicality that makes it one of the most versatile sauce recipes in the assortment.