Napoli Sauce

There are few things more versatile than a good tomato sauce.

You can use it for pizza, for pasta, as a base for a more complex sauce such as Ratatouille,

A good tomato sauce is a vital component to any cooks repertoire. 

The versatility cannot be understated. 

This sauce hails from the Naples region of italy, located on the western coast of southern Italy, Naples has been continuously inhabited since the first millennium BC, Making it one of the oldest urban areas in the world. 

Tomatoes in Naples are grown in nutrient rich volcanic soil. Volcanic ash is mineral dense and provides tomatoes with all the food they need. 

In Australia, the closest variety that emulates this quality are ‘Eumundi reds’ grown in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Southern Queensland.

When choosing tinned tomatoes try to find ‘San Marzano Whole peeled tomatoes’.

These are available in most Italian delis. 

When choosing fresh tomatoes, find overripe tomatoes, as they will be sweeter and add a deeper flavour to your sauce. 

Once again we recommend using Morella grove olive oil and the freshest garlic and basil you can find. When buying fresh herbs, always try to buy loose herbs with a deep green colour and a strong bouquet.

Napoli Sauce recipe

100g good quality olive oil ( We recommend morella grove) 

100g fresh garlic

85 g fresh basil

4x 400g tins san marzano whole peeled tomatoes

1000g ( 1 kg) over ripe roma tomatoes

20g salt 

Recipe

For this recipe you will need a heavy based saucepan and a good spoon, pyrex or wooden spoons are the best, don't use metal spoons to stir. Metal on metal with scrape and you will end up with tiny pieces of metal in your sauce. 

This will not only compromise the flavour, it may also wreak havoc with your digestive system. 

Preheat the oven to 190°C. 

Take a large baking tray and line it with baking paper.

Remove the core or eye, from the tomatoes with a sharp paring knife and discard.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, and lay them skin side down on the baking tray.

Sprinkle half the  olive oil over the tomatoes, add half the picked basil and garlic. 

Season with a generous pinch of the salt.

Place the tomatoes, uncovered in the oven and roast until they have started to break down and have taken on a little colour. 

Don't worry if they burn a little on the edges, you don't want them black, but a little colour will add to the complexity of the final flavour profile. The tomatoes will need about 45 minutes cooking time, although this will vary depending on your oven. 

Keep a close eye on them, after 20 minutes of cooking, check them regularly.

Heat your saucepan over a medium heat, you don't want the heat to be high at any point during this process, low and slow is best for this recipe, it will allow the flavours to amalgamate, resulting in a rich, fragrant sauce, with a multitude of depth and flavour.

Open the tomato tins, remove the lids.

Pick the basil leaves and peel the garlic, remove the root with a sharp knife.  

Speed will be paramount in the early stages of bringing this sauce together. Once all the ingredients are in the saucepan you can relax. 

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Add half the olive oil to the pan and heat gently. Add half the garlic to the olive oil in the pan. Stir continuously 

Your aim here is to slowly soften the garlic, almost caramelise it, without burning the cloves. 

You will know it's done when the cloves have a deep caramel colour. This will take some time, so be patient.

Time.

Temperature.

Patience.

Add half the basil to the oil and garlic, be careful with this step, as the hot oil will spit, add the tinned tomatoes and stir to combine. The addition of the tomatoes to the hot oil will slow the cooking process and stop the garlic, basil and oil from burning. Rinse the tomato tins with a small amount of water and add the contents of the tin to the sauce. 

Very slowly bring the sauce to the boil, take as much time as you need here, make sure to stir the sauce frequently so that it does not burn on the bottom. Once the sauce has reached the boil, remove the tomatoes from the oven and gently add them to the saucepan with the base of the sauce already cooking in it.

Be Careful here, as you do not want to burn yourself. Make sure you get as much of the liquid as you can. Bring the sauce back to the boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, and don’t forget to stir!

How long you cook it for now, is entirely up to you. We recommend at least 6 hours of cooking time. Up to 24 or even beyond if you like. The longer you cook the sauce the stronger the flavour will become. It will also become thicker, as the water content is reduced. 

If you don't want to get up and stir the sauce every hour while you are sleeping, you can take it off the stove, put it in the fridge overnight and bring it back to temperature the next day. 

If you do this, make sure you bring the sauce back to the boil for at least a minute before reducing it to a simmer again. 

Once your sauce has reduced to desired consistency, blend with a stick blender, depending on your preference you may want to leave the sauce slightly chunky, or blend well for a smoother more emulsified final product. 

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for later use for up to three months.

Keep an eye on the blog for future posts about how to use your nap sauce for a variety of dishes.

Buon Appetito!