There’s more to tomato sauce than marinara. Wether you’re cooking up spaghetti or a bowl of rigatoni, these classic Italian tomato sauces will make a satisfying dinner.
Types & Names of Italian Sauces
First, there’s Puttanesca
This classic Italian pasta dish has a racy name—puttanesca means whore—though records are a little murky as to how that name came to be. The flavor profile is tangy, salty and spicy. These note come from adding capers, olives, and sometimes anchovies to the tomato sauce. Our recipe gets its brininess from cod instead of anchovies.
Next up? Bolognese
This comforting sauce starts with browned meat, onion, and garlic. Simmered with tomatoes, the Bolognese meat sauce slowly begins to develop deep notes of flavor, from richness to sweetness. Aromatic basil, the quintessential finishing touch for any Italian masterpiece, adds a bright touch.
When you branch out to Alla Norma, you’re in eggplant territory.
Norma is the name of a famous opera written in the early 19th century by composer Vincenzo Bellini. Because Bellini was native to Cantania, Sicily, it’s believed that a chef in Cantania named his eggplant and pasta dish after the opera to honor the work of art and its grandeur. Pasta alla Norma always features eggplant, a vegetable found in many popular Sicilian dishes, and some form of ricotta cheese.
Adding Meatballs makes sauce meaty, spicy, and hearty.
Make marinara way more interesting by topping your spaghetti and sauce with meatballs. The garlic, oregano, and celery flavors burst out of the savory meatballs and flavor your sauce as the two simmer together for ten minutes before serving. Then, in every bite, you get an umami-rich assortment of spaghetti, meat, tomato, and Parmesan cheese.
You know life is good when there’s Fresh Heirloom Tomato Sauce.
We adore summer’s gorgeous tomatoes, so we created a simple sauce with lots of garlic and a little basil. When you can really taste the tomatoes, there’s nothing in the world that’s better to put on your pasta than this easy sauté, where the heirlooms burst to create a sauce that’s so far from marinara despite having the same ingredients!
The best news is that you don’t have to choose just one. All of these Italian Tomato sauces are easy to make at home for a Mediterranean feast.
