Sugo scappato is a vegetarian Tuscan ragù rooted in the tradition of cucina povera, the so-called “peasant” cooking of central and southern Italy. It is said to have originated with rural cooks aiming for the chunky heartiness of a meaty red sauce — I immediately think of Marcella Hazan’s luscious classic Bolognese, containing as it does, beef and pork, as well as white wine, butter and milk (!) — while avoiding the expense of the meat and other luxurious ingredients.
Sugo scappato translates as “escaped” or “runaway” sauce and consists of chunks of vegetables (onion, carrot and celery) that traditionally provide the body — as opposed to the beef, which escaped — while red wine and tomatoes give it color and depth. This easy staple is colloquially (derogatorily?) known as sugo finto, or “fake sauce.”
Where Marcella’s unctuous Bolognese takes three hours to cook, a simple vegetable-forward sugo scappato and pasta can be on the table in an hour.
I’ve tried here to push the scappato further toward the meatier end by adding a chunky dice of cremini mushrooms, along with flavoring from a broth of dried porcini mushrooms, a secret umami weapon in the search for vegetable alternatives.
Simple white button mushrooms or (better) cremini — infantilized as “baby bellas” — benefit from a 20-minute dry-roast in a 350-degree oven before being chopped and sautéed.
For this sauce, in my imagination the animal that “escaped” was a wild boar, leading to a herb and spice mix of sage and juniper berries. For the pasta, I recommend Sfoglini’s organic Durham wheat rigatoni, better identified as scorzasellari. It’s larger in diameter and shorter than rigatoni, lined with ridges and possessed of a coarser texture that encourages the sauce to cling.
Serve topped with pangrattato (grated bread, or the poor man’s Parmesan) mixed with parsley, chopped walnuts for crunch and more of the sage and juniper, plus a little Parmesan (or nutritional yeast) for more umami. This “fake” pasta dish is not faking anything.
Sugo Scappato (Escaped Sauce)
Serves 4
For the porcini broth:
- ¼ to ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 cups water
For the ragù:
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- 1 pound mushrooms (cremini or white button), chopped into ½-inch dice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 carrots cut into ¼-inch dice
- 2 stalks celery cut into ¼-inch dice
- 1 teaspoon crushed juniper berries
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine
- 14 ounces canned cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup porcini broth
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 pound rigatoni (or other pasta)
For the pangrattato:
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup Italian parsley leaves, chopped
- 15 to 20 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 10 to 12 dried juniper berries, crushed fine
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan or 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- Olive oil; salt and pepper to taste
1. For the porcini broth: Place the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low boil; reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. You can do this up to a week in advance and refrigerate. (Alternatively, you can use vegetable, beef or chicken stock or make a quick mushroom stock from a Better-Than-Bouillon base.)
2. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ¼ cup of the onions and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes until browned. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring for 2 minutes until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and stir, cooking for 2 minutes until fragrant. Reserve to a bowl.
3. In the same pot, heat ¼ cup olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and celery; cook, stirring frequently until soft (about 8 minutes). Add juniper berries and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes. Return the reserved mushroom mixture to the pot and stir in the wine. Cook for 5 minutes until the wine is mostly evaporated and add the canned tomatoes and 1 cup of the broth. Bring ragù to a bubble, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While the ragù cooks, bring water to boil for the pasta. Prepare the pangrattato by mixing the ingredients in a bowl using your fingertips. Moisten the mixture with a drizzle of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Salt the pasta water and prepare as per package instructions. Reserve a cup of the water before draining the pasta.
5. Add the two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the simmering ragù and stir to incorporate. Combine the drained pasta and ragù, adding reserved pasta water to thin the sauce as needed. Stir gently to mix. Serve in bowls and top each with a healthy spoonful of pangrattato.
