Lactose Free Sugo di Pomodoro
This is the kind of tomato sauce that makes you want to abandon every jarred option in your pantry forever. It starts with San Marzano tomatoes crushed by hand — a small step that makes a big textural difference — then builds depth slowly with garlic bloomed in good olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flakes for gentle heat. The long, unhurried simmer is what transforms it from a simple pantry sauce into something that tastes like it's been on the stove all afternoon. Fresh basil torn in at the end keeps the flavor bright and aromatic rather than flat or overly cooked. For anyone navigating dairy sensitivities, the base recipe is completely free of it — the optional butter at the finish is easy to skip without losing any of the sauce's richness or body. What you're left with is a deeply savory, brick-red sugo that coats pasta beautifully and works just as well spooned over roasted vegetables or used as a pizza base. Simple ingredients, honest technique, and a result that genuinely tastes like more than the sum of its parts.
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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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