Sunday Gravy

Richard-NYC's Note:

Cher in Texas, Riffraff, and Bratty 1 have inspired me to post this recipe. It is a very humble dish and is usually my Sunday dinner. It is the Sunday dinner of many Italian-Americans. I know there are probably a million ways to make this dish--please give my version a try.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 2 onions (chopped)
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 (28 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

MEATBALLS

• 1 ½ lbs ground chuck (85% lean/15%fat)
• 4 slices white bread (make fresh crumbs in blender or food processor)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pepper (a few grinds)
• ½ cup grated romano cheese or ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons water
• flour (for dredging)
• vegetable oil (for frying)

SAUSAGE

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage links or 1 lb hot Italian sausage

Directions:

1. Heat oil in very large Dutch oven.
2. Add garlic and onions and saute until soft.
3. Add tomato paste and stir to combine.
4. Add crushed tomatoes and spices.
5. Stir bring to boil, lower heat to low--cover and simmer.
6. Meanwhile combine all meatball ingredients (except for flour and oil).
7. Form into balls about 2-1/2 inches in diameter.
8. Dredge meatballs in flour.
9. Fry meatballs in oil in skillet a few at a time until browned on all sides (not necessary to cook through they will cook in the sauce) Add fried meatballs from skillet directly to simmering sauce.
10. Stir and bring sauce back to a simmer.
11. Cover.
12. Place sausage in pot and cover with water.
13. Bring to a boil and boil about 5 minutes to remove some of the fat.
14. Brown boiled sausage in skillet.
15. Place browned sausage in simmering sauce.
16. Bring sauce back to simmer---cover and continue simmering for 2 hours over low heat---stir occassioanlly.
17. Remove meatballs and sausage from pot and place on serving dish.
18. Toss sauce with cooked pasta--You will have enough sauce to coat two pounds of cooked pasta.
19. This freezes very well!

Reviews

[yooper]

If this is how Italians eat on a Sunday I want to come back as "Tony" in my next life! This was so simple to put together, and everything worked. The meatballs, the sauce, the Italian sausage. I served this over a bed of linguini along with garlic bread. The sauce clung perfectly to every strand of pasta. One of my guests said it was like eating in a little Italian restaraunt in New York. Thank you Richard, for sharing this heritage recipe with us and taking us to the Bronx for one memorable meal!

[Karen=^..^=]

I don't know why, but I decided that after almost 20 years of making my mom's recipe, I felt like a change. Made this today, Sunday, for dinner. Simmered longer, but otherwise followed the recipe. It is close to my mom's but not quite it. Her meatballs have parsley and Italian seasoning and she doesn't dredge. These meatballs were good, but I think I am used to hers :) The gravy (or sauce as I call it) was wonderful...again, close to mom's, except this one has no salt or pepper (which I admit I thought was odd, but I didn't add it!) or cheese in it. So, after the novel I just wrote, I still think this is very deserving of 5 stars. The whole family loved it, didn't really notice much of a difference and they are soooo glad there are leftovers! Served over linguine with garlic bread.

[bratty]

We loved this dish! Simple enough for just the two of us, or elegant enough for entertaining. I served it with linguine, a green salad, and garlic bread. It reminded us of a dish you would be served in a local italian restaurant. The ingredients meshed so well together. No trouble at all to make, and the results are so impressive. Richard has hit the mark again. If you are on the fence with this one, don't regard this as another spaghetti/meatballs dish, it is much more.