Tags: vegetarian, gluten-free
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs Campari, Cherry, or other sweet Tomatoes (“Tomatoes on the Vine”)
- 3/4 cup Limoncello liquor
- 1 bunch basil
- 1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, packed in oil
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata Olives
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Chop the basil finely using a food processor. Mix the basil and Limoncello in a large bowl.
Peel the tomatoes by dipping them briefly in boiling water and removing skins. Add the peeled tomatoes to the bowl.
Once all of the tomatoes are added, give them a gentle mashing with a potato masher. You shouldn’t decimate the tomatoes – do just enough to mix the juices with the liquor & basil. There should be just enough liquid (limoncello/tomato juice mixture) to cover the tomatoes.
Cover the bowl and set it in the fridge to soak for an hour or so.
Put the sun dried tomatoes and kalamata olives in a food processor and blend until they form a tapenade. You should have about a half cup of tapenade – add additional olives and tomatoes until it comes out with the right volume.
Sautee the tapenade in olive oil for about five minutes. Add the tomato/limoncello mixture including liquid and reduce on medium-low heat for about 2 hours or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Add heavy cream and heat it to just shy of a boil, stirring constantly.
Serve over pasta – I find this complements a cheese Tortellini beautifully.
Allergens
- Milk (dairy) — the heavy cream.
- Sulfites — sun-dried tomatoes and olives are often treated with sulfites; check the labels.
- Alcohol — limoncello. Most of it cooks off during the 2-hour reduction, but traces may remain.
- Gluten / wheat (and egg) — not in the sauce, but the pasta it’s served over. Cheese tortellini also adds egg and more dairy.
This sauce is vegetarian. For a dairy-free version, substitute a plant-based cream for the heavy cream. It is otherwise free of nuts, soy, shellfish, and fish.
Nutrition
Estimated for a yield of about 4 cups of sauce (~8 servings of 1/2 cup). The “with pasta” column adds 2 oz of dry pasta (~1 cup cooked) per serving; cheese tortellini, as suggested, would run higher and add egg and dairy.
Per serving
| Sauce only | With pasta | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | ~200 | ~400 |
| Fat | ~14 g | ~15 g |
| Carbs | ~17 g | ~59 g |
| Protein | ~3 g | ~10 g |
| Sodium | ~175 mg | ~175 mg |
Whole recipe (~8 servings)
| Sauce only | With pasta (1 lb dry) | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | ~1,590 | ~3,190 |
| Fat | ~114 g | ~122 g |
| Carbs | ~132 g | ~468 g |
| Protein | ~25 g | ~81 g |
| Sodium | ~1,400 mg | ~1,400 mg |
Most of the sauce’s fat comes from the olive oil, heavy cream, and olives. Sodium is moderate, mostly from the olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
These values were estimated by Claude (an AI assistant) and may be inaccurate. Treat them as rough approximations, not exact figures.