Sunday Gravy-- My Red Sauce

I am always interested in others recipes, please add your thoughts , comments and your own recipe.

Sunday gravy for us is a long cooked tomato red sauce with braised meats, called Sugo ( at least for me ). I usually cook mine for hrs, 4 or more for sure, but I like to turn mine off and on and often serve it a day later. Our usual recipe starts with , canned sauces, I think whole hand squeezed tomato, get lost in a long cook. I reserve that for quick cooking.

1 29 Oz Hunts Sauce
1 6 Oz Hunts Paste
Plus one large can of water!!

Now stating that, I have used whole tomatoes too. Carmelina, Bella Terra, Battaglia, La Squisita. The one thing about making the sauce is having fun in the kitchen on Sat or Sunday.

So this gets the red sauce cooking in its own pot, Now In a fry pan, I begin to brown my meat and cook my aromatics . I like the combination of a pork part and beef, preferable with some nice bone product. My friend suggests I try using Pigs feet. Here is a good go to

2-3 Beef Short Ribs
3 Pork Neck bones or feather bones or country rib

Brown these real well on all sides, add to pot.

Aromatics now in the pan

1/2 yellow diced onion cook first, till soft then below
3-4 cloves of garlic minced fine

I like to use alot of olive oil. which helps flavor the sauce. Cook the above, add to pot, and deglaze the pan, I use what ever wine I have … red or white.

Seasoning the sauce: I add by eye so sorry on any amounts. So lets say Table spoon of ea. ( Yikes ). I like to keep it simple because its about the braised beef and you don’t need to get to crazy here, but that’s up to you

Sugar
Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning- bulk buy crap!! Not always done-- but this is the basic idea
Salt-- this just depends on how it tastes. I tend to add anise to mine… either seed of star.
Red Pepper Flakes

This is the basic, which you can deviate from any time.

To this basic, You add meatballs ( another post ) and sausage ( another post ). What the sausage adds to the flavor is a bit of fennel flavor.

Cheers.

Hope I didn’t miss anything. Now off to shower

Best wishes and Happy New Yr!!

Paul

Using a tip from John Tomasso, I broke my 40-year habit of adding oregano and have learned to stick with just basil, which eliminates the Italian seasoning and whatever crap it contains including thyme, which doesn’t seem to fit the flavor profile I’m looking for. I’ve been really happy with the results. Strictly fresh basil in the summer for me, but dried works fine if you can’t find any in the winter. Now and then I’ll live dangerously and put a whole sprig of rosemary in the sauce and remove the stem before serving, but it does alter the taste significantly.

I usually add a couple of handfuls of chopped flat-leaf parsley but I won’t panic if I don’t have any, and dried works, too, because of the long simmer time. I also use whole tomatoes that I break up in a Cuisinart with a couple of quick pulses because I like the chunkiness they offer and I don’t like the artificial, tinny flavor I seem to get from canned “tomato sauce”.

Meat? I’ll make it meatless now and then, or I’ll add a pork “steak” and/or some beef - cut not important - and those are mostly for flavor, though I’ll usually serve the sauce with meat chunks in it for one meal since I always make enough sauce to have a lot left over. One thing I will NOT do is add ground beef. If I’m going to do that I’m going to go all the way and make ragu bolognese. If I want meat it’s meatballs or sausages, but I really like to live large and have both.

I use a half cup of red wine, country pork ribs (boneless), and freshly ground beef meatballs. Dried garlic and fresh basil. 2/4 hours and it really becomes otherworldly if I must say so myself.

olive oil
country pork ribs (browned)
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes-Jersey Fresh brand
1 can (35 oz) italian tomatoes- Cento
pinch garlic (dried)
fresh basil
salt/sugar to taste

I fry the meatballs til pink in the middle and finish them in the sauce…I mean gravy for the last couple of hours

I use one pot. Brown meats then set them aside, add onion/aromatics, deglaze with wine, add tomatoes and meat. Then that goes on a very low simmer for 4-5 hours. I don’t use sugar but instead rely on the onions and (sometimes) carrots for the sweetness. Basil has some sweet qualities too, IMO so fresh basil is also key.

Interesting about the fresh Basil, I was under the impression that the flavor would be cooked out over time?

I also forgot to say, sometimes I toast/cook my paste in EVOO.

paul

You could add it at the last half hour if you chose. I never had an issue.

I add it in stages sometimes. It doesn’t “cook out” any more than dried does but it does get somewhat muted. Adding some toward the end gives you that bright basil flavor. I’ve also been known to stir in a tablespoon or so of pesto I’ve frozen - same thing.

It’s been a long time since I wrote this out. - Here goes

For the meat:

Meatballs - ground chuck, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, granulated garlic (so sue me), breadcrumbs, eggs, grated pecorino Romano
Sausages - good Italian sausage, I prefer hot, but mixed is fine too
Two or three pork neck bones - absent those, I’ll use spare ribs
(I consider the above ingredients necessary, the remainder are optional and can be mixed and matched at will)
Hunk of boneless pork and / or beef, trimmed from a roast
Beef braciole

Brown the neck bones, any hunks of beef or pork, and the sausages. Set aside.
Add fresh oil to the pot, add a few cloves of garlic, and brown until golden, remove the cloves, then
brown the meatballs. Set aside.

For the gravy, I start with about 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a heavy pot, and drop in 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, and some crushed red chili flakes, and let it all sizzle for about 30 seconds. Then, depending upon how much meat I’m using, I’ll blend 2 or more 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes - a few pulses, I like to keep texture, as was mentioned above.
Here, I’ll season with salt and pepper, nothing else, and let it come to a boil.

Now, I start dropping the meat in. Once it is all submerged, I turn down the fire to a slow simmer. I leave the pot uncovered. If it is too much meat to tomato ratio, I’ll add half a can of water, or red wine.
I stir every 20 minutes, up from the bottom, for at least two hours, but more like 3 -3.5 hours. I also degrease throughout, skimming the excess oil off the top with a ladle, and depositing into a grease can.
What I’m looking for is thickening, and like pornography, I know it when I see it.
When it gets to that stage, it’s done, and all I do at that point is chop some up a handful of fresh basil, and stir it in.

I dress my pasta with the sauce, and serve as a first course.
Once everyone is done, I bring the meat out on a platter, and that is the second course, which we usually serve along with a green salad.

Everyone tells me how good it is, and then I go to sleep.

One thing that I’ve learned is to not “over herbalize” your sauce. Fresh basil and black pepper is all you should need. Let the meat flavors with the onion and garlic take center stage with the basil added late in the cooking as a backdrop. Sometimes simpler is better, IMO (and probably a couple other people). Another thing is to use high quality canned tomatoes(read DOC San Marzano), and simmer the sauce for a long time. A few red pepper flakes to give it some tangy heat, and you should be all done.

Another approach (which I like to do with a ragu bolognese) is to have the sauce based on on a celery/carrot starter keeping it simple again and allowing the vegetables and tomatoes to meld with the ground meat (prefer veal - hardly browned) simmered over 2+ hours.

Finally if I’m going more for a umami approach, I’d start with pancetta/guanciale in oil, and after adding onions mix in some finely chopped anchovies, eventually deglazed with balsamic or a red wine of your choice, severly reduced prior to adding the tomatoes.

Paul and John - From what part of Italy does your family come? These sound like recipes for gravy from the southern part of Italy. My guess is that you learned these “recipes” only by observation of nona and not from a card or a book.
Ciao.
T.

sounds awesome guys, gonna try one of these recipes soon!!!

Sunday was always time for Sunday gravy, a hearty meat sauce served with mostaccioli rigati. Ronzoni was the preferred brand as I was growing up. A hearty pasta with a ridged surface works well.
Here is the recipe –as best as I remember it. The cooking was more done by feel than following any specific recipe. My family was mostly from southern Italy (Puglia) so this recipe is what I understand to be typical of the region for a hearty meat sauce (sugo).
Buon appetito!

Sunday Gravy
Ingredients
1 large yellow onion – finely diced
1 celery stalk – diced
1 carrot – finely diced
3 garlic cloves – sliced
1/3 cup of olive oil (Extra virgin olive oil preferred)
1 sausage link – sweet
1 sausage link - hot
1 lamb rib chop
1 county style pork rib
Meatballs: (½ lb ground beef; ½ lb ground veal; ½ lb ground pork; 1 egg; ¼ cup grated pecorino romano; 1 tablespoon chopped parsley; 2 slices bread soaked in milk; mix altogether; roll into meatballs and brown in oven)
Salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
2 cans (28 oz) Italian tomatoes – remove seeds and chop in food processor
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
Parsley
Fresh basil – 8 to 10 leaves

Brown a country style pork rib, lamb rib chop, and two sausage links.
Meanwhile sauté onion, carrot and celery stalk in 1/3 cup olive oil (extra virgin) (less 1 teaspoon).
When soft, add sliced garlic.
C ook until soft but not browned. Add pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper and red pepper flakes
Add 2 cans large crushed tomatoes (remove seeds – and roughly chop in food processor).
Add tomato paste.
Add a pint of water. Simmer over low heat.
Stir; add salt, a pinch of sugar, some chopped parsley and a few fresh basil leaves.
Meanwhile, make the meatballs
Make meatballs using 1/3 beef, 1/3 ground pork and 1/3 ground veal to which you add the bread soaked in milk, 1 egg beaten, and the cheese and parsley. Brown in oven.

When the meatballs are browned, add to the sauce.
Add the browned sausage and pork and lamb to the sauce.
Add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Add chopped parsley and basil leaves.
Cover the pot and simmer on low heat for 5 or 6 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Add water if the sauce is getting too thick. Be careful not to burn the bottom.
The gravy will be ready when it is thick and the meat is falling apart.
The gravy will improve if allowed to cool and sit overnight.


Enjoy.
Salud.

T.

T.

My Nonna ( Palarmo ) and my Nonno ( Lucca ) were both labeled Sicilian … But to me Lucca was a area near Tuscany. But all the relatives said its a special tribe near Messina.

My recipe is just from what Nonna did, to the best of my recollection. I tend to very the recipe ( more pasty ) , more to what my mother ( Irish ) did and adapted learning from my dads mom. AS kids growing up at Sunday dinner at grandma’s… at least in our real young days… we sat on the plastic cover couch… and was seen and not heard of to much ( Out of the kitchen ). so we played it was outside. AS we grew older I tried to learn as much cooking from my grandma and bachelor uncle that lived with her. Grandpa passed when I was about 8.

Ciao Ciao

Thanks for the post and have a great rest of the week

Ohh… I have posted this before… this is the family store.

P.

Great thread.
Nice shot, Paul.

Personally, I like to keep it simple and let the quality of the ingredients show through.

One of the huge differences for us is using fresh tomatoes that we grew over the summer and cooking them down and freezing as opposed to using the canned stuff.

Paul,

That will be my goal this yr!! Great advice.

I have been making Mario Batali’s Oxtail Ragu lately from his Babbo cookbook and I cant stop eating it. Incredibly rich and wholesome sauce. Takes some time but you can freeze small baggies of it and it lasts a long time. His recipe calls for serving it on gnocchi but I like it on good pasta tubes of some sort.

Oxtail Ragu
Ingredients & Method

5 lbs oxtail
Kosher salt and ground pepper
6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
Flour, for dredging
2 onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick
4 c. red wine
2 c. chicken stock
2 c. tomato sauce (see recipe below for simple marinara - takes about 30 minutes)
2 tbs. fresh thyme leaves
Pecorino romano, for grating
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Trim the excess fat from the oxtails and season liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge them in flour. In an 8-quart, heavy bottomed Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over high heat until it is just smoking. Sear oxtails on all sides until browned, turning with long handled tongs. Remove the browned oxtail to a plate and set aside.

Add the onions to the same pan and cook them until slightly browned. Add the wine, chicken stock, tomato sauce and thyme, and bring the mixture to a boil. Return the oxtails to the pot, submerging them in the liquid, and return the pot to a boil. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the oxtails with long handled tongs. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and shred into small pieces with a fork. Discard the bones. With a small ladle, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce. Return the shredded meat to the pot. Place over medium high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and allow the sauce to reduce to a very thick ragú. Season with salt and pepper.

Basic tomato sauce

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
Salt
Whole basil leaves, for garnish
Grated Parmesan, (optional)
Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Loving this thread, grazie mille everyone!

I typically make a ragu, but will definitely up the ante and make a gravy next time.

Do you really need to stir the “gravy” so frequently? If the burner is on the lowest heat setting i.e. simmer I would imagine the risk of burning would be low. Does it make a huge difference in the final sauce if you don’t stir so frequently i.e. every hour as opposed to every 15 minutes?

Brett

Real low, stir every hour or so. Maybe 45 minutes. I use my le Creuset and get no sticking what so ever. I also don’t deglaze with the wine but rather put in right in with the tomatoes. The fond is gond when I cleand.