Il Mongetto Tomato Pasta Sauces

For years Il Mongetto has been the top contender for my favorite bottled pasta sauce. They have a clean, fresh flavor that I love, with the sweetness of fresh summer tomatoes. Conjured up by the serenely insightful Santopietro family in the shadows of the Italian Alps, these sauces are filled with tomatoes, shallots, celery, carrots, olive oil from Umbrian maker Alfredo Mancianti and salt—and complex, compelling flavors that other sauces only aspire to. Keep some around for that night you don’t want to cook. Pasta with Il Mongetto sauce is the best fast food I know.

Il Mongetto's Original Tomato Sauce: Made with vine ripened tomatoes, carrot, celery, onion, herbs and a generous amount of great Umbrian extra virgin olive oil. With a fresh vegetal sweetness, it's my favorite starting sauce. You can jazz it up any way you'd like (my favorite: add a tin of Ortiz tuna).

Mezzanotte Midnight Sauce: Tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil with garlic, parsley and hot cherry peppers. It's not very spicy but great if you're looking for a quick, zesty, late-night snack. Toss a cup of this sauce and a couple anchovies over your pasta just for kicks.

Sugo di Funghi Mushroom Sauce: Tomatoes, dried porcini mushrooms, extra-virgin olive oil with red wine, shallots and spices. The porcini—Italy's second favorite mushroom after the truffle—have a concentrated woodsy flavor and make for an earthy sauce.

"I'm an Italian cook, and the Il Mongetto Original Tomato Sauce was the best bottled sauce I ever tasted!!!!!"
Angelina, Clearwater, FL