Sunday Sauce

After Shawn and I married, we moved to Poughkeepsie, New York. Our first neighbors were Gerry & Linda Sepe (from the Bronx).They introduced us to great Italian cooking.  We quickly became family and that means having Sunday Sauce every Sunday!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 pound sweet Italian fennel sausage or hot Italian sausage any kind you like or mix them, leave whole and cut into 2”pieces after browned

• 3 (26-ounce) containers of Italian chopped tomatoes

• 2 (26-ounce) containers of Italian crushed tomatoes

• Garlic cloves, minced

• Shallots, diced

• Crushed red pepper

• Dried oregano

• Salt and black pepper

• Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

• Chopped fresh basil

• Meatballs, recipe below

• Braciola, recipe below

Quickly brown the sausages in a large pot that everything will eventually fit into. Brown and remove, add olive oil and sauce the garlic and shallots until translucent. Then add the sausages back and the tomatoes.  I usually buy the large cans of crushed tomatoes from Costco or Sam’s. Add the braciolas  directly into the sauce.  Do not cook them beforehand. Drop the meatballs into the sauce as you fry them.  After everything is in the sauce, add the herbs and cook on low for several hours. Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  We normally use penne pasta.

Freezes great in freezer ziplock bags. Lay them flat in freezer so they defrost faster. Count out the pieces of meat to add cups of sauce to when freezing separate meals.  I usually add 4 meatballs,1 piece of sausage and 1 braciola to two cups of sauce to freeze for two people. If you run out of meat, just freeze the sauce to use on other dishes. Too many meatballs, freeze with some sauce to have as meatball Parmigiano-Reggiano sandwiches.

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef 

• 1 pound ground pork

• 3/4 pound of ground veal - ok if you don’t use veal

• Shallot, finely chopped

• Garlic cloves, minced

• Italian seasoned bread crumbs

• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

• Chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten - I use one per pound of meat 

• Salt and black pepper

I use rubber gloves to gently mix the meat to combine.  Add shallots, garlic, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt and pepper. Roll into balls.  Fry quickly in hot oil just to make crisp on each side (do not cook through) and then drop them directly into the sauce as you remove from frying pan.

Braciole

• 1 pound beef top round pounded thin - depends on how many pieces you want - see picture below.  Make them about 2-3 inches long. Normally for one braciole, three meatballs and two pieces of sausage is enough meat per person with the penne.

• Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

• Garlic chopped fine

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• String (butcher’s twine) to secure the roll

Salt, pepper and rub garlic into meat, sprinkle with cheese and chopped flat leaf parsley.  Roll tightly and tie with string or seal with toothpicks.  Drop into tomato sauce to cook.

Pat Muma