This is a garlic-lover’s dream. It is a classic recipe from Tuscany traditionally made with fresh elephant garlic (‘aglione’) and served on thick, handmade pici pasta. Velvety garlic puree, white wine and two types of tomato rightfully earn ‘Sugo di Aglione’ its place in the pantheon of Italian sauces.
Blender, Food Processor or Immersion Blender optional; you can mince the elephant garlic instead
Ingredients
½cupwhite wine
3cloveselephant garlicor half this amount of regular garlic
1lbcrushed tomatoesor: 56 oz of whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
14oztomato puree
1cupwater
4tbspolive oilor, as needed
1pinchsaltfine; to taste
3wholered chili pepperor, to taste
18ozfresh pastapici is traditional or choose a fresh or dry spaghetti
Instructions
Prepare Garlic and Tomatoes
Blend the garlic with a bit of olive oil until you have a thick, creamy puree. An immersion blender works great here.
3 cloves elephant garlic, 4 tbsp olive oil
Drain all of the water from the whole peeled tomatoes. Cut each tomato open and remove the seeds and any water with running water or by dipping them in a bowl of water. Drain any remaining water and measure out 1 pound of the tomato that remains. Blend the tomato until it’s a coarse, pulpy consistency—similar to crushed tomato from a can. Or, used canned crushed tomato.
1 lb crushed tomatoes
Cook the Garlic Purée
Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the garlic puree and whole red chili pepper. Over low heat, sauté the garlic in the olive oil stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes. The garlic should not change color.
3 whole red chili pepper
Add the white wine to the garlic. Over medium-low heat, cook until the wine has evaporated (about 5 minutes).
½ cup white wine
Stir in the tomato purée, the tomato pulp (crushed tomatoes) and a cup of water.
14 oz tomato puree, 1 cup water
Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes.
Finish with Pasta
Combine with drained pasta, cooked according to package instructions. Salt to taste.
18 oz fresh pasta, 1 pinch salt
Buon appetito!
Video
Notes
Crush Whole Canned TomatoesIt will be tempting to simply use ‘crushed’ tomato instead of buying whole peeled tomato and crushing yourself. However, whole tomatoes tend to be sweeter than crushed, especially after seeds and water are removed.San Marzano Taste Better!Look for canned tomatoes which say ‘San Marzano.’ This is a variety of plum tomatoes grown in Italy which are world-renowned for their sweeter flavor. Great for sauces!Serve with traditional pici pasta!Pici, the pasta traditionally used with this sauce is easy to make. Check out our recipe (below)