What is Salsa alla Marchigiana
This Salsa alla Marchigiana is a basic pasta sauce made from white wine, tomato, and herb. This particular recipe is at least 70 years old, a relic from a post World War 2 collection of recipes from the 1050s. But I would imagine the recipe is much much older than the cookbook.
This would have been the sort of simple dish people would have eaten in the Marche region to use up scraps of left lover meat. It has probably been made for many generations. This was the kind of simple dish that would have sustained many a family in the aftermath of World War 2, when food was so scarce.
There are 2 interesting parts of this dish that I think really make it different. Firstly, the base of the sauce is white wine mixed with tomato purée. In the first stages of cooking, the alcohol from the wine seems quite pungent. But after 30 minutes of cooking, you are just left with a very aromatic tomato sauce.
Secondly, the use of ham. In reality, this could have been any cooked, smoked or preserved ham. The whole point of the sauce was to use up meat that would be wasted. Especially prosciutto crudo which can turn rancid if not eaten too quickly.
I doubt many people outside of Italy’s Marche region have heard of Salsa alla Marchigiana. And I’m sure there is no one traditional recipe. But it’s a very nice sauce. And quick and easy to make. It might be 70 years old but it still works well in 2026!
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
More Marche Recipes
- Vincisgrassi – Marche’s answer to lasagne – wide pasta sheets layered with meat ragu, chicken livers and bechamel.
- Potacchio Marchigiana – chicken slow-cooked with tomatoes, white wine, rosemary and garlic. A Marche classic.
- Fava Ngreccia – dried fava beans slow-cooked with wild chicory. A dish from the hills of Marche and beyond.
Salsa alla Marchigiana
Ingredients
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp lard
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 stick celery (finely chopped)
- 1 small carrot (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 large pinch marjoram
- 1 large pinch thyme
- 150 grams ham ((any cooked ham, prosciutto or guanciale))
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 200 ml cup white wine
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Heat a pan then add lard and butter. When melted, add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until it softens and starts to take on a light golden colour.
- Add the celery, carrot and parsley and a pinch of salt.cook for about 7-8 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the ham to the pan, stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes on a low heat. Meanwhile mix the tomato paste with the white wine.
- Add the white wine/ tomato mixture to the pan with the marjoram and thyme. Add more salt (if needed) and pepper, then bring to a very gentle simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- Add a splash of water if the sauce dries out.
- Serve with pasta of your choice.
