Alas, my beautiful and charming Mrs. Chowbelly is not the first, there was another before her – but that’s a tale for another time. The ex-Mrs Chowbelly is Sicilian and can whip up anything in the kitchen with just what she has laying around. You know, divorce can be a cantankerous thing and all parties lose a part of themselves. But sometimes its the small things you wish you could take with you. One example of that is her Amogio Sauce recipe. Amogio is like an Italian salsa – it can be eaten on meat, fish, poultry, bread or pasta. Amogio recipes vary from region to region in Italy and even moreso from family to family. The ex_Mrs.Chowbelly wont part with her secret for anyone! I’ve even sent our 23-year old daughter on covert missions to look through her recipe boxes and we’ve come up empty! Throughout the past 6 or 7 years I have tried to recreate it a few times and have been sorely disappointed. This time, however, I think I’ve got it! Please give feedback and let me know how your family makes this amazing condiment.
Chowbelly’s Amogio
1/2 C.Finely diced tomatoes
¼ C. Olive oil
¼ C. Fresh lemon juice
2 Tbls Fresh minced garlic
1 Tbls Fresh chopped mint
¼ Tsp Red Pepper flakes
¼ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Finely ground White Pepper
Add all ingredients in a non-reactive storage container and allow to combine flavors several hours before serving.
ex-Mrs.Chowbelly: If you’re listening, am I close?
ChowBelly 
August 4, 2009 at 3:14 am
you are close. my family has been making amoghio for a around 100 years. i’ll give you a clue, try it on lamb. boun pranzo
July 30, 2010 at 1:37 am
My family has also made this many many times over the last century. Haha. Nonna never used mint. Also, more lemon, and add a table spoon of capers. Also peper to your taste. I’ve used this on virtually every meat. The amogio with mint is best on lamb, I wouldn’t suggest mint for any other meat but lamb.
April 22, 2011 at 11:13 pm
A good Sicilian rarely uses recipes for such things. They are instilled in our brains from a young age.
February 27, 2012 at 1:43 am
The Internet is new to me, being that I just retired. There are a lot of topics on the Internet and I am reading on many of those and commenting. I don’t understand everything that is in all the blogs that I read, but I like your presentation here i…
[…]The Elusive Amogio Sauce « ChowBelly[…]…
April 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm
kirtasiye…
[…]The Elusive Amogio Sauce « ChowBelly[…]…
June 19, 2014 at 7:36 pm
you got it close the mint i’ve never used ,i use oregano,and i change it up from time to time by adding thyme and basil, it just depends on what im using it on and what herbs i have fresh my grandfather made this for me as a child and it’s the one thing i really wish i would have paid attention to when he cooked because it was the the one thing that i remember the most about him(as far as us in the kitchen at 7-8 yrs old) i miss him and i just wish i had more time to learn from him the old ways of cooking
January 16, 2015 at 11:06 pm
You almost there, Fresh mint is a must, a little fresh Sweet Basil, little pasley, verysmall amout of oregano, Crushed plum tomatoes salt and pepper, and the last ingredients are olive oil (the good kind) and GARLIC, which is the name of the sauce (garlic sauce) and the last is maybe a little crushed red pepper. you will notice no amounts are given because its all to personnel taste.+
Richard
July 24, 2015 at 10:01 pm
I had this years ago with mint, delicious!
February 10, 2019 at 8:39 pm
Hand crushed plum tomatos canned. Oregano, olive oil. 3 cloves of garlic minced and smashed into a paste in a motar and pestle. This is the absolute best. No mint, lemon juice that you see on this site. Mama Rizzo
September 6, 2020 at 5:46 pm
We had a beautiful mint bush in the yard and my mom would send me every time to pick it for the amogio sauce. Make no mistake this is a key ingredient along with fresh minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and crushed tomatoes, of course. You may chopped up the mint and also bruise it well with the bottom of a glass to release more mint flavor. Mind you it is more of a spearmint flavor…not peppermint. I am going to add some lemon also-I think that will definitely add a brightness to the already delicious flavor. Over breaded garne or breaded fresh tuna steaks-o my gosh! Or just add some
al dente linguini or angel hair pasta for a cool/warm pasta dish.
I have had it with fresh basel but not the same. I’m just saying. Ok, now I am craving all of this-ha ha-I better get busy-labor day is tomorrow!
Chao Bella!
Ann Marie Busacca 🙂