Sugo finto (“Fake” Sauce)

Frank2 June 2017pasta, primi piatti, sauces, Toscana48 Comments

Another of the many Italian dishes in the cucina povera tradition, sugo finto is “fake” because it is basically a meat sauce (sugo di carne) without the meat that was so unaffordable for most people not too far in the past. (It is also called sugo scappato, or ‘escaped’ sauce, for the same reason.) Today we enjoy sugo finto less because it’s economical and more because it’s also really good eating.

And simple. The typical flavor base of finely chopped aromatic vegetables is enhanced with fresh herbs, then doused with red wine before the tomatoes are added and simmered for 30 minutes or so, long enough so it reduces into a rich, thick sauce. Sugo finto is extremely versatile. It goes with just about any pasta, and has a place at the table any time of year, made with fresh tomatoes in the summer months, canned or hothouse ones the rest of the year.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 medium onion, preferably red
1 medium stalk of celery
1 medium carrot
A spring of fresh parsley, sage and rosemary
A splash of red wine
1/2 of a large can, or 400g (14 oz) fresh, tomatoes, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Directions

Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and herbs together into a rough paste—what they call a battuto in Italian. You can do this in a food processor or, in the traditional way, using a knife or mezzaluna (see Notes) on a wooden cutting board.

In a saucepan or braiser, sauté the battuto gently in olive oil until it is perfectly tender, taking care not to brown the onions. A pinch of salt and a few drops of water as you sauté will help things along and avoid browning.

Add a splash of red wine and let it evaporate. Then add the tomatoes to the pot. Let simmer for a good 30 minutes or so, stirring from time to time, until you have a nice, thick sauce.

Serve with the pasta of your choice.

Notes on sugo finto

This sauce starts out as so many Italian dishes do, with aromatic vegetables finely chopped together into a kind of paste that Italians call a battuto. Almost always, the battuto is then sautéed in fat until soft, at which point it becomes a soffritto, the foundation for countless sauces, braises and other dishes.

You can make your battuto at least two ways. The modern, time-saving way is to use chop the vegetables very roughly and then chop them more finely in a food processor using the pulse function. This makes short work of what used to a fairly laborious job. But at least once in a while it’s nice to take the time to make your battuto the old fashioned way, using a ‘half moon’ chopper like the one pictured here. You roughly chop the aromatics with a knife, then rock the mezzaluna back and forth over the vegetables in a criss-cross pattern until you reach the desired consistency. It takes a little more time—say, perhaps ten minutes if you’re taking it slow—but I find it satisfying, and rather relaxing when I’m in the right frame or mind.

Like many classic dishes, recipes vary widely in terms of measurements, in particular the amount of tomato vs. battuto. Of course, less tomato will result into a chunkier sauce where the aromatics dominate flavor and texture. Although the version given here is vegetarian, in some versions of this sauce meat broth is added to provide flavor. (Remember, the original point of the dish was to save money not to avoid meat per se.)

This sauce is very versatile. You can use it with just about any pasta you like. A quintessentially Tuscan choice would be pici, made from a flour and water dough hand-rolled into spaghetti-like strands. But it is very nice also with fettuccine or tagliatelle, riffing off the meat sauce joke. Short pastas like mezze maniche or rigatoni are also very nice.

Post Scriptum

Regular readers may have noticed that I have been posting less frequently lately. My last new post was back at Easter. This month-long hiatus been the longest since I started blogging back in June 2009. Well, dear reader, sometimes life gets in the way. Or rather work life, which has been really intense lately, leaving little time or energy for other things in life. But believe me, I’ve missed blogging as much as I hope you’ve missed these posts. I think the worst is over now and life can return, more or less, to normal. Fingers crossed…

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