Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday Gravy


If you grew up Italian then you know what Sunday gravy is! Even though I am only a half breed (or a wanna be, as David calls me), my Mother who was the Italian half, used to make pasta sauce on the weekends. It's a slow cooked red sauce that simmers all day and fills your entire house with the wonderful smell of Italian food! Everyone has their own version of what they put in it. It is almost like an art form and each sauce has its own unique flavor. My recipe is sort of a conglomeration of my Mother's sauce combined with some of David's secrets. I made it for him several weeks ago and it seemed to have passed the "real Italian" test. We joke all of the time because David is 100% percent Italian (and a hot one at that!) and my parents were Italian and Swedish. He calls me the "wanna be"!


 

Sunday Gravy

 
  • A large Dutch oven or heavy sauce pot
  • 1 large onion peeled and left whole
  • 4 country spare ribs
  • 2 links of Italian sausage (the real stuff, not the hot Italian stuff they pass of at the grocery store as being real, go to an Italian deli!!!!)
  • ¼ cup of olive oil
  • Rind from a wedge of Pecorino Romano cheese
  • Fresh chopped basil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 hardboiled egg, peeled
  • 4 large cans of chopped San Marzano tomatoes
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • Salt and pepper
  • Hot pepper flakes
  • Chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp of dried rosemary leaves
  • 2 large dried bay leaves
  • 1 cup of dry white wine




    Add olive oil to the dutch oven and heat over high heat. Add meats and brown evenly. Remove and set aside. Reduce heat to low and add garlic and sauté until slightly browned. Add in tomatoes and paste to pot and white wine. Return browned meats to pot. Reduce heat to low. Add whole onion, cheese rind, egg and all the herbs. Simmer over low heat for 3 to four hours stirring often to avoid burning the meats that will settle to the bottom of the pot. Sauce will reduce and thicken. The slow cooking process will sweeten the sauce on its own so there is no need to add any sugar!



    Remove meats, cheese rind, and onion and egg and set aside. Serve sauce over any type of pasta with fresh grated cheese on top. The onion and egg make a great treat! Serve the cooked meats on another day for a separate meal if you wish or have them with the pasta on the side.

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