ROUSES_MarApr2019_Magazine-R

ROTOLO’S PIZZERIA PREMIUM PASTA SAUCE A Louisiana State University staple since 1996, Rotolo’s Pizzeria in Baton Rouge has become a fast- growing franchise known for its casual dining, and for every pizza served being handmade from scratch, with fresh ingredients. Roto- lo’s Pizzeria Premium Pasta Sauce lets you take a stab at making a pizza at home that can compete with the pros. It won’t help you roll out and toss your own pizza dough, though. You might have to visit the restaurant to see that part done just right.

SICILY’S FINEST GOURMET FOODS NEW ORLEANS ORIGINAL PASTA SAUCE Described as a “sweet taste of Sicily with a spicy New Orleans twist,” Sicily’s Finest Gourmet Foods New Orleans Original Pasta Sauce is made in and distributed from Norco, Louisiana, where the company is committed to giving back to the local community. They will even recycle the empty jars for you — and put them back to work holding that sumptuous, spicy and sweet sauce.

PEPPERLAND FARMS NEAPOLITAN MARINARA SAUCE It might blow your mind to learn that tomatoes are not native to Italy. They were first brought there from South America in the 16th century. But wait! It gets even stranger: Tomatoes are not indigenous to North America either. They prolif- erated across Europe, only for Thomas Jefferson to discover them while living in Paris. He brought tomato seeds back with him and helped popularize the fruit as a delicacy. Though Italy can’t claim to have given the world the tomato, it can claim credit as having elevated tomato sauce to an art form. Pepperland Farms Neapoli- tan Marinara Sauce, made in Ponchatoula, is made from one of those Old World recipes.

II TONY’S NEW ORLEANS STYLE SICILIAN MARINARA

MONJUNIS SALSA DI POMIDORO Monjunis Italian Cafe, a hidden gem in Baton Rouge, is famous for its romantic charm, which cannot be bottled, and its pasta sauce, which can. Diners make reserva- tions for Monjunis specifically for the sauce, and the restaurant dishes up over a thousand servings of lasagna a week. You can now also get it at Rouses: Monjunis Salsa di Pomidoro is a sweet and under- stated sauce that is all-natural and preservative-free. Not that it needs preservatives anyway, because once you open it, you will use it all, immediately. The Montalbano family has been feeding New Orleans for 50 years, and Two Tony’s Restaurant in West End made their sauce the stuff of legend. It is made simply with fresh vegetables, Italian seasonings and cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. With II Tony’s New Orleans Style Sicilian Marinara, you can take it home, pour it in a pot, and tell your guests you’ve been cooking it for hours. They’ll be none the wiser. RED GRAVY FROM TONY MANDINA’S RESTAURANT Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy adver- tises itself as the second-best red gravy out there — with the first, of course, being your mama’s. (Every- one’s mother and grandmother, after all, make the best meals.) Red Gravy is a versatile, elegant sauce, cooked slowly and by hand, in small batches. It’s been a Gretna staple at Tony Mandina’s Restaurant for 37 years. If a sauce has been around that long and is still winning new fans, they are certainly doing something right.

SAL’S SICILIAN NEW ORLEANS RED GRAVY Lacombe, Louisiana isn’t exactly the first place you think of when you think of great restaurants, but when Chef Sal Impastato arrived in America in 1960, the town reminded him so much of his native Sicily that he opened a restaurant there. Between visits to Sal and Judy’s, you can enjoy the gravy that made his restaurant a local landmark. Sal’s Sicilian New Orleans Red Gravy is the restau- rant’s signature sauce, made with pork, vegetables and, of course, Italian tomatoes.

OUR COUSIN VINNY’S RED GRAVY PASTA SAUCE The first time Louisiana tasted Vinny’s red sauce was in 1968, as part of a one-dollar spaghetti and meatballs plate at Vince’s Diner in Baton Rouge. Donaldsonville native Vincent Sotile would even- tually open many restaurants in the region, but he spent his entire career wanting to bottle that pasta sauce — his mother’s recipe. Rosa Giambroni was born in Caccamo, Italy, and once she taught Vinny the family recipe, the rest was history. Today her legacy lives on in Our Cousin Vinny’s Red Gravy Pasta Sauce.

D’AGOSTINO PASTA COMPANY PEZZO SAUCE (CHUNKY) If you are looking for fresh, tradi- tional pasta that is handmade using Old World techniques and is air-dried in wooden cellars, D’Agostino Pasta Company can help. Their chunky Pezzo Sauce, made in Baton Rouge, was born in Palermo, Sicily, and like their pasta, it’s made in the traditional artisan style.

CAJUN POWER PASTA SAUCE MAKIN’ CAJUN SPAGHETTI

Find these and more local sauces at Rouses. !!!

MAMA MIA’S PASTA SAUCE

What more can you really say about a product called Cajun Power Pasta Sauce? If the name alone isn’t enough to sell it, maybe the fresh ingredients inside — fresh onions, bell peppers, Romano cheese and Cajun spices — will do the trick. The Abbeville, Louisiana sauce isn’t limited to spaghetti. It’s also perfect for pasta casseroles, pizza and lasagna.

“Don’t cheat on Mama!” is the slogan of Shreveport, Louisiana- based Mama Mia Foods. Mama Mia’s Pasta Sauce is an old recipe from the Cordaro family, part of a line of products and Cordaro reci- pes under the Mama Mia label. It is one family’s history, bottled and waiting to be shared with yours.

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