BHA & BHT Free Sugo di Pomodoro
Few sauces are as deeply satisfying as a slow-simmered tomato sugo, and this one delivers that rich, brick-red depth that only comes from patience and good ingredients. The base is beautifully simple — San Marzano tomatoes crushed by hand, fragrant garlic coaxed in olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes for gentle heat, and fresh basil torn in at the very end to keep its brightness alive. For anyone avoiding synthetic preservatives like BHA and BHT, jarred and canned sauces can be a minefield, with additives hiding in ingredient lists that take a magnifying glass to read. Making it from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients means you know exactly what's going into the pot — and nothing else. San Marzano tomatoes, good olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh herbs are all naturally free of those additives, so this sauce is clean by design rather than by compromise. The optional pat of butter stirred in at the finish is a small move with a big payoff, rounding out the acidity and giving the sauce a silky, restaurant-quality finish. It's the kind of recipe you'll come back to every week once you realize how little effort it actually takes.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- ½ tsp sugar
- ¾ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Pour the tomatoes and their juices into a large bowl and crush them by hand, squeezing each tomato until broken into rough, uneven pieces. Set aside.
- 2
Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until it shimmers. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is pale golden and fragrant, about 3–4 minutes. Watch closely — the garlic can color quickly.
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