Traditions: Family Recipes with Tuttorosso Tomatoes
We asked our biggest fans to share their favorite Tuttorosso traditions, and we were blown away by all the heartfelt, genuine stories. Read below to see some of our favorite traditions and maybe get some inspiration to start your own.
“Our family tradition came straight for the old country in South Central Italy. Polenta a tavola. My mother had a bread board made the size of her kitchen table. Most of the time it was used for making homemade pasta and bread on. My mother on special occasions would bring the board up from her working kitchen to her kitchen used during the holidays and special family meal days. Her tradition involved spreading polenta hot from the pot, onto the bread board. She spread it about a half inch thick and on it went her special sauce made with Tuttorosso tomatoes. The sauce had bell peppers, wild mushrooms (that we picked) sausage, stew beef and calves hearts. She topped off the sauce with only the best Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese. We all got a place around the table. Everyone had a fork and a glass of the best homemade red wine. We ate and ate, often commenting on the map being created by our consuming the polenta as we went along. My mother used traditional copper pots and mixing sticks carved by her brothers in Italy to stir the polenta as she cooked it. My mom is responsible for bringing the tradition to this country.”
Tony P.
Cortland, NY
“I didn't realize there were other tomatoes besides Tuttorosso until I was old enough to food shop. I remember helping make the gravy when I was a child. We would line up the Tuttorosso tomatoes, paste and sauce in a straight line. My job was to open all the cans and nestled them inside each other when they were empty. Standing on my step stool, stirring the pot was always a challenge but I loved to help with the Sunday gravy. Some traditions need to continue, I taught my daughter how to make the Sunday gravy and only just the best, Tuttorosso tomatoes.”
Kathy, P.
“My Mom who is 90 has been my inspiration to bake and cook. Where she resides she doesn't have a stove but she does have a microwave and now heats Tuttorosso Pasta sauce for dipping her Italian bread. She adds some good Italian grated cheese to the top of the bread and there are many days that's what she has for dinner. She loves the seasoning and flavor. She actually was the first person I know to use cans of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes in her sauce and stews. Mom never bought canned anything because she was a firm believer that she had to do her own canning to get the quality she wanted. I don't remember exactly how she came upon buying Tuttorosso tomatoes but I know that as long as I can remember she would stock up on them when they were on sale and when I married, I too rely on Tuttorosso for my sauces, stews and soup!. We'd buy them by the case. This was a major breakthrough for our family because Mom canned all her own tomatoes forever, so to think that Tuttorosso would have the quality that Mom would trust enough to feed her family is a true testament to Tuttorosso.”
M.J.