The Sauce

Sauce ? Gravy? So many different things to say. However , being Italian , my family always said tomato sauce. Gravy was for Beef, Poultry and Mashed potatos. It took many years to get this recipe perfected and there are so many great things to add to make it different . It is easily frozen for later use as well. This is very easy to make it just takes time. Waking up at 8 A.M. on a sunday morning smelling garlic sauteeing was a treat in my family growing up, and you also knew what was to follow that afternoon at about 3:30. I also start this recipe early on sunday unless I will be making Lasagna or Stuffed Shells. You see I need the sauce, so it has to be made Saturday so I can also make the other 2 dishes as well on saturday so Sunday is easy. Got it ? Good!

Ingredients:
3 24oz cans Tomato sauce(open prior to cooking)
1 18oz can Tomato paste(open on both sides of can prior to cooking. It's a little trick)
4 cloves of garlic sliced thin (remember I use a truffle slicer but can be done with razor blade)
you can use a teaspoon full of the Minced Garlic that you have in that little jar in the fridge
1/3 cup of fresh chopped Flat Leaf Parsley ( You can use Curly Parsley)
1/4 teasp of salt
1 teasp cracked Black pepper
Olive oil

In Large pot add 4 0r 5 tblsp of olive oil, Heat on med and add parsley, garlic,pepper and salt. Sautee about 2 -3 min till garlic just starts to turn brown.

Quickly add all the tomato sauce But... after adding the tomato sauce, fill each can 1/2 way with water and swish around to gather up sauce that didn't come out of can then dump that in. It's actually a good way to clean the can too.

Next add the tomato paste. Now slowly push one bottom of the can . As the top part of can comes out slide it across edge of can to remove saving the paste inside of the can. Keep pushing the bottom of can all the way through but be careful not to let the whole thing plop into the tomato sauce with the bottom piece of the can( wow that can is clean too). If it does remove the bottom piece of can then with a wooden spoon stir the paste into the sauce. Bring to boil then cover and lower to simmer for about 4 - 5 hrs stirring about every 20 minutes.

Have a little Italian bread to dip into sauce from time to time to taste it. Sometimes you may want to add some more salt. Maybe some more Pepper. On occasion about a half a glass of red wine can change the flavor and make your sauce a bit richer. Some folks like their sauce sweeter and will add a little sugar.

Some great Ideas for creating a sauce even better: Before adding the sauce to your pot Here are a few things my Family and I do to create an even more spectactular dinner.

Add six or eight sausage links to the parsley and garlic and saute them a little . We use about 6 sweet and 6 hot Italian sausage links . They usually come in a package of about six to eight. I especially like Luonghini Brand. Oh dont worry they cook in that sauce wonderfully and add some great flavor.

We will also take chunks of pork, stew beef and veal and saute that before adding the Cans of sauce. Oh with or without bones.

Chicken works too , yes even hearts, neck, gizzard and liver. Bone in or not ,just remember to saute with the garlic and parsly first. Don't mean to gross you out but as my Italian grandfather used to say ," You can eat everything on the chicken except for the cluck, everything on the cow except for the moo and everything on the pig except for the squeal!" I'll tell ya about pigs feet and pig ears later lol.

Now finally some are wondering ," What about the Meatballs!"

Recipe:
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
2 eggs
1/3 cup chopped parsley
a Little salt and pepper
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup of bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Mix well with your hands until well blended together.

Form meatballs bigger than a golf ball but not as big as a tennis ball. Pic the size you like . My size usually makes about a dozen.

Now old school cooking would be to brown all sides in a frying pan. I actually go a little easier and bake them in a preheated 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until it is browned all around the outside. I carefully place the raw meatballs on a cookie sheet covered with foil.( Saves the clean up time). When all browned outside I carefully drop each meatball into the sauce that has been cooking on the stove with the sausage in it. Oh the Meatballs get put in the stove just as I am about to start my sauce. That way when added to the sauce they have all day to finish cooking. Oh this is how I make my sauce with the sausage and meatballs.

It is a lot of sauce and that is why after having guests I make sure I have some good ziploc freezer bags in all sizes. Why ? So I can freeze my sauce individually as to being used another time . Add the ziploc to boiling water and in about 15 minutes you have it ready to go over your pasta on a wednesday night.( Easy and Delicioso)