Tuscan Garlic Sauce

Im still glowing over my recent trip to Italy.  One of my treasured memories were the new friends I made, including an Instagram friend who connected with me and invited me to her home in Florence to cook with her.  We made Pici pasta with a Tuscan garlic sauce.  This garlic sauce is supposed to be made with elephant garlic, but it’s seasonal and pretty hard to find here in the states.  So my suggestion to you is to find a large head of garlic with “plump” cloves.  This recipe uses no wine or basil, the flavor comes from the quantity of garlic cloves that gently simmer in the strained tomatoes, good salt, and olive oil.

You will need:

Olive Oil

1 bottle of Passata or strained tomatoes

1 head of garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Peel and lightly crush  a head of garlic with a knife

Put 1/2 the crushed garlic in a pot with plenty of olive oil

Fry for a few minutes until fragrant and lightly golden. Add the Passata and the other half of the peeled and crushed garlic cloves. Add salt and red pepper flakes.

Simmer slowly for about an hour.  Before serving,  you can choose whether to leave the garlic cloves whole in the sauce the sauce or blend.  I remove them all into a bowl, mash with a fork, and add them back into the sauce.