Paccheri al sugo finto (fake mince sauce)
Ingredients:
1200 g peeled tomatoes
700 g onion
200 g celery
200 g carrot
4 garlic cloves
4 sage leaves
1 bunch of parsley
6 basil leaves
5 tablespoons olive oil
200 ml red wine
1 teaspoon sugar
Chili pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
Simple Ingredients
Tuscan “Sugo Finto” (Fake Meat Sauce)
An inviting plate of spaghetti with sugo finto
Instructions
Put all the chopped vegetables in a saucepan with 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover and let them stew for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the wine, stir, and cook with the lid on for 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes with the lid slightly ajar, always stirring frequently.
Add the peeled tomatoes and stir, crushing them with the wooden ladle. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Blend half the sauce briefly with an immersion blender to refine the texture.
Continue cooking uncovered to reduce the sauce, stirring often to encourage evaporation.
Add a heaping teaspoon of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, then continue cooking for another 30 minutes, stirring very frequently to further thicken the sauce, which should be quite dense by the end.
Adjust salt to taste and transfer to suitable jars.
The sauce keeps for a few days in the refrigerator. You can freeze it for up to 3 months or pasteurize it for a shelf life of 6 months.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the paccheri and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the paccheri.