Which Sauce is The Boss?


Which Sauce is The Boss?

In America the most well known Italian sauce is Marinara sauce, which is made from tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs. According to TV personality Lidia Bastianich though, there are dozens of different Italian sauces that are just as delicious, if not more. Because of Italy’s culture, the sauces made there are often made when each ingredient is in peak-season, so that the sauces contains a lot of natural flavor. Most of the ingredients are just broken down vegetables that, when heated, create and let loose a plethora of sauces. Let us take you on a journey to discover sauces you may not have heard of before, and hopefully will plan on trying!

Creamy Garlic Sauce with Broccoli

The garlic taste isn’t something you see very often in Italian-American dishes. In a creamy garlic sauce, the cloves are full cooked to break down the sharpness of the garlic flavor, to bring out a sweet taste. This sauce pairs especially well with vegetables, but can be added to any meat dish as well!

Pesto Sauce

Although this is a more common sauce nowadays, but within this sauce itself, there are a plethora of ways it can be made. In fact, each region in Italy has different ingredients that they use for their Pesto. The word Pesto originates from the word pestare, which means “to mash”. One variant is the almond Pesto trapanese sauce, which goes especially well with chicken and pastas.

Chickapee Puree

Around Italy’s peninsula, dried legumes are used as a flavoring to enhance other foods. The chickapee recipe uses chickpeas, fresh basil and pine nuts, which are native to the region. With this recipe, you can try adding all sorts of nuts from almonds to walnuts to add a nuttiness to the puree. If you toast the nuts, it will bring forth a whole new flavor to the sauce.

vegetables being cut up for a sauce

Olive & Caper Sauce

This sauce requires a little bit of tomato, but it also relies on a few other fruits & plants such as the olive and caper. You can even use other cured or dried items such as artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes or even beans. It’s especially ideal in the colder months when fresh vegetables aren’t as commonplace. Since you can really add in any other veggie to taste, it’s best if you taste the mashed concoction before you decide what sort of spices to add.

Oil Infused Sauces

In many Mediterranean areas, there are lots of variations of an oil based sauce that is made with herbs and lemon. It is traditionally served with seafood such as shrimp or fish, but also makes a great pairing with certain salads.

Do any of these sauces sound appetizing to you? Perhaps with a little shopping, you can make these sauces and add them to your next dish! In the Central Texas area? Interested in authentic and delicious Italian food at an affordable price? Then come by Italian Garden and see what everyone is talking about, you can view our menu here.