From another forum, here's pics of the last batch of sauce I made.


.........................................................................
Okay guys, this is how I make my sunday gravy. I find this recipe very closely resembles the way my grandmother Dragoni makes her sauce, but with a few tweaks I've made. Taste is about the same, I just bulked up and made a few things easier. (do you REALLY want to chop 3-4 BULBS of garlic? Me neither.)


I'm gonna let the pictures do most of the talking here guys. If you haven't eaten yet, prepare to get HUNGRY. This recipe will feed roughly 1-2 city block.




INGREDIENTS: 6 lbs italian sausage, 4lbs meatballs (i use precooked ones to save time), a shitload of vidalia onion (chopped), Chopped garlic in water (roughtly 8oz... 1/2 of a 12oz jar), FRESH parsley, 10pack can of ground peeled tomatos (pastene kitchen ready), 10pack can of Hunts tomato sauce, 2X32oz diced tomatos, 2X8oz cans of tomato paste, coarse ground black pepper, ground white pepper, crushed black pepper, Bay leaf, sweet basil, oregano, ground hot pepper (a tiny pich - secret ingredient type of thing), and some sutter home white zin.




olive oil, garlic, heat gently.



heated.



ONIONS



cooked



add 1 can of paste



mix







add more paste, and diced tomatos. Stir and heat.









add spices and mix. Heat



add ground peeled tomatos. Heat. Add tomato sauce. Heat.







add spices, bay leaf X 3.



wine









pardon my french, but add a fuck-ton of meat. Literally. Make sure meat is BROWN and DELICIOUS.





Simmer. Skim fat. Stir every 10 min or so. Play guitar for 6-8 hours, then EAT PASTA FOR # WEEKS STRAIGHT.

Thanks for reading guys! If you have any questions (I was very vague, I know) feel free to ask. MANGIA!



[Edited on 6-12-2009 by ArrowHead]

*drools*

veggie meat and im in. # weeks is a long ass time.

Reverend:

The sauasage is really where the flavor comes from. Don't despair, just add some salt, fennel seed, and some finely diced red and green bell pepper and you will come VERY close to replacing the flavor of the sausage. You'll still be lacking all that delicious fat, but as a veggie you're already used to that.

Lulz, I can't remember if I meant to say
" a # of weeks"
or hit shift and meant to say
"3 weeks"

i think you meant # to leave it open-ended, depending on varying sizes of bellies and appetites. some people might be able to eat for 3 weeks straight off that, while others may need 5 weeks to devour it all.

My girlfriend and I ripped through this entire batch in about 2.5 weeks alone. If you've seen me, I'm by no means a fattie, it's just so good! Also, you can literally use it so many ways. Lasagna, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Meatball subs, Baked Ziti, or my own favorite - standing next to the microwave at 3 a.m., stoned, munching on sausages.


I have one of those little vacuum sealer machines. I pack the sausage and meatballs 4 per bag and seal them. Then I keep a couple days worth thawed and freeze the rest.

ITT: rustyps finds a neew way to get to a heartattack

I have been having chest pains lately, I just thought it was an alien trying to get out.

I gotta stop watching Fringe, by the way.

fuck my health...that looks delicious

Rev, I'm curious how much my gravy compares to Carina's childhood memories of grandma. I've noticed most Boston area italian-americans have a very similar way of doing things, right down to the pastene tomatos and hunts tomato sauce.

Wise words, my friend. I'd rip my heart out and flush it if it tried to stop me from eating spaghetti.

No homemade meatballs = fail

No fail.

Meatballs are retardedly simple and get most of their flavor from the sauce. While I love making homeade meatballs I can't fit my big skillet on the stove next to that 24 quart pot, and it's already a pretty busy 8 hour process. Homemade meatballs are GREAT and definitely a bit better, but I reserve that for special occasions/vacation when i can afford the extra time/effort/expense. As it is, this sauce is around $100, if you add up the ingredients. I almost always take 4 pounds of prepared balls for $8 over $20 worth of ground beef + breadcrumbs, spices, etc...


Sausage, on the other hand, I am extrememly picky about. You will find NO generic cheapo shit in my sauce. Either Peri, or fresh homemade shit.

NO EXCUSES

As a purebred Italian and having grown up near Naples, pre packaged meatballs are not acceptable. Everything else is . start a restaurant

Not excuses. I'm sorry your irish ass doesn't get it, but any real italian american knows the flavor comes from the pork and sausages. Meatballs are to keep the kids table happy. (and the irish in-laws, of course.)

And if you grew up near naples, you wouldn't use meat in your sauce at all.

Who failed? YOU failed.

I use tuna.

Similar to my sauce recipe is similar to my sauce recipe. Use that in lasagna or baked ziti for ultimate win.

This dude ain't even Italian he's native American because of arrow head. Then he says only the Irish like meatballs.
hahha

Yeah, You croaked when you admitted you're from naples. You eat crap, like squid, fishies, and AWFUL FUCKING PIZZA. So what if you had better bread and cheese, you eat fish and store garbage on the street corner.

When American started shoving cows down the italian immigrant's throats, the food done got gooder.

I unfortunately agree with lametroll. I make-a-da bomb meatballs and it maybe adds an extra half hour total.

Yeah, no. ArrowHead is not a native american reference. My grandmother's name is DRAGONI, being from naples I assume you've heard it?

You make 4lbs of meatballs in 30 minutes? I'd love to see the skillet you use.

Again, I don't dislike homemade meatballs at all. For me the meatballs are an AFTERTHOUGHT, not a necessity. Sometimes I do meatballs, sometimes Bracciole, sometimes pork chops, lamb, veal, ground beef, ground pork, shredded pork, there's a million meats you can use instead of meatballs. I just throw these meatballs in because they're CHEAP, GOOD, QUICK, and taste very good.

)

And spammy italian troll, go eat with my dad. He makes his gravy with lobster, and from what I hear it's incredibly good. I just can't stand seafood in any form. (and he uses capers. I'm afraid of capers.)

childhood? I would say that there is way way way way way too much stuff in there. The sauce that they make is good, but it's a lot simpler than that and mostly just tomato paste. I always end up putting a lot more salt and cheese in it than I usually would.

I typically cook the meatballs in the oven so they aren't completely done, but well enough where they will finish after simmering in the sauce for a few hours. I do not disagree with the butcher shop you listed as substitutions.

and this should have been marked food.

Prego is better...

Why would I ever have assumed there was no [food] flag? Good call!

I completely agree.

the ragu-ay festivool

Classico

I do basically the same thing but I throw in some sugar and a whole thing of grated romano. fahgeddaboutit.

Looks fucking awesome. Only thing I would do different would be to use San Marzano tomatoes and maybe fresh garlic. Besides that, it's pretty much how I make sauce when I make it. And I'm not italian.

No sugar. Sugar is when you fuck up the sauce and find it bitter. The sugars from the brown sausage, tomatos, and the sweetness of the wine, oregano, and basil should be MORE than enough. My grandma would spit on you for using sugar. Or being black. But that's another story. Racist grandmas are hilarious.

Agreed, I LOVE using the san marzano tomatoes, but GOD at this volume I could never afford that. If I made a small batch, I would. The difference is HUGE.

Also, unfortunately, the stores around here don't carry the San Mar Tomatoes consistently. Sometimes Stop n Shop has em, but not every time. :(

Fresh garlic is better, but GOOD GOD I would puke if I needed to cut that much garlic, and I REFUSE to use pressed garlic in my sauce. Those little bits of visible garlic make me HORNY for sauce!

Also, I got the chopped garlic FREE from work. We switched to a different product, so I got 11 16oz JARS of that shit. That's like a 2 year supply.

MAMA MIA!
Polenta? that looks good.

oh wait. I just took a quick look. Not polenta. Still.

Am I the only one thinking this recipe might lead to a reincarnation of the mighty SAUSAGE FEST??

i think i just creamed myself

Hard as a rock ovah heah. BOOM

i only saw this now! yum!

i think the only way for me to truly comment is for me to taste it...so come over with the gf and let's have dinner!

aaron's comment above is because i like simple tomato sauce and when my mom makes it...if aaron is eating it...she doesn't use meat either.

my mom's sauce is awesome and i cannot take her out to eat italian food for fear of seeds...she can't handle tomato seeds in her sauce..i'm sure that would be my mom's only critique.. strain the tomato sauce first to remove the seeds

ITT: MEDIOCRE SAUCE not saying it's bad but you're acting like just because you made a shit ton of it, it's the best shit ever. it's understood that at such a high volume of sauce, some prepackaged and processed foods are just plain easier to use. but i guess since you called it "gravy"... well, i won't even get started...

Have a bad day, did we? I think you prefer eating a different type of sausage altogether.

Call me crazy, but I think you'd need to try TASTING something before calling it mediocre. And my great grandmother, grandmother, and father have always referred to a big pot of sauce and meat as "sunday gravy", I also alternate and call it sauce often too. Why would you find this to be an issue?

Get a life, stop trolling. I'm the one eating it, not you.

Simple is always good. Especially when mom makes it. My mother used to just throw ground beef, salt, pepper, and plain tomato sauce in a pot and it was still wonderful!

I assume Aaron wouldn't go for eating the sauce out of the pot that has meat in it, eh?

mostlikely.

arrowhead: minus the meat, put a price tag on this. I'm probably going to do it tomorrow night/day since I will hopefully be snowed in.

Also, two things
1) look into how to make cheese balls. Carina's mom makes them and they are AMAZING. I devour those things. I want them right this minute.
2) think about making some of your own meatballs, here is the reason why... the golden pocket! wrap and hide cheese inside the meatballs.

ITT: INBREAD ITALIAN

Believe it or not, my last name isn't really Bastard....it's DiMatteo and I'm blond/blue northern italian.

YOUR MUDDAS GRAVY AINT GOT SHIT ON MY GRANMAHS MAH RAH NAH RAH!!

marinara hurts my stomach.

Andrew Bastardorelli

I just started a no fat diet that I have to be on for the next month, so I just want to thank you for reminding me of how much my life sucks that I can't eat insanely delicious looking shit like this.

Fuck.

"10pack can of ground peeled tomatos (pastene kitchen ready), 10pack can of Hunts tomato sauce"

how many oz are those?

Why?

cause he didn't read your work out tips

god damn, poor guy

San Marzano tomatoes=good call-they are best for making sauce and do not have as much water as normal tomatoes.

Arrowhead, it's called sauce...not gravy.

since the baby.. I haven't eaten italian for some time if you get my drift. I've made some substitutions, but I'm making it starting now.

yikes..that is a ton of meat..as aaron said veggie meat and we are in..otherwise out..aka rev's mom

yikes that is a lot of meat..no way am I in..leave the meat out of veggie meat and in..aka rev's mom

Time to start eating normally, Rev. Drop the fad veggie diet, your kid will grow up to be stronger. If you don't, your kid will be working for my kid one day.

oopps sorry guys didn;t see I had already posted that sauce and meat thing..maybe I need meat to clear my brain..ugh..neva..

Eat a steak, eat a steak, eat a big ole' steer!

umm Hoser that is normally...stronger does not require eating dead animals..when your kid is potentially being set up for needing bypass surgery his kid will be running marathons..btw the Rev is very strong..it is not a fad diet..it is a choice of eating..

LOL @ "when your kid is potentially being set up for needing bypass surgery"

i think by "working for" hoser means that they will be a gay couple since hoser would turn a man.

OMG... cutting onions killing me.

i would be lying if i said that i didnt already try it.. and all it is is garlic. and im not sure how much wine to put in it or me...

A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in the process of that. I had to de-seed a pound of sun dried tomatoes.

damn it! I did all that work and there are seeds in all the other tomatoes.
sorry francesca.

Yeah, you used wine. But I agree on the bitter. That's only if I use too much. I'll have to try the wine though. Strange how not everyone uses paste. Paste is the fucking key.

Great thread BTW.

Ok, I made it last night and brought some into work today. Carina, what did you think of it? My co-workers liked it too.

YES! Paste is key!

Rev, sorry I missed all your posts yesterday, I thought this thread was dead and gone, even Aril had stopped trolling it.

I'd definitely love to hear more about how it came out for you.

No idea on the ounces, but a 10-pack is the big huge cans you can find in stores like wal-mart. If you were using 32oz cans, I'd try around 5 of each.

TIP: Stick your head in the freezer and open your eyes wide. You'll feel fine in about 30 seconds.

Or breathe through your mouth. Or core the onion before slicing it. Or cut it really fast.

It went awesome. lesson's learned
1) if you fall asleep, don't stur up the burnt stuff on the bottom
2) use less hot pepper
3) use more paste

use a red wine and for fucks sake make some real meatballs !!

if that is at me... I USED PORT WINE

Port? Wow...you must have had some pretty sweet and smokey tasting sauce. I would think that Port is wayyyyyy to sweet for a sauce.

it was a tawny port.

1) Yes, red wine is usually used here. I don't like it, so I use zinfandel.
2) Port is fine, due to #3
3) In that 24 QUART pot of sauce, I use a total of maybe 3/4 of a cup of wine. If you're adding a lot, you don't need to... it will make the sauce seem greasy. Just a little splash at the end before you let it simmer.

Also, towards the middle when I add my big cans of tomatos, I add roughly 20oz of water. This is not to dilute the sauce, it's simply because when you simmer the sauce for 6+ hours it's going to reduce a lot. This way you're losing water, and not losing delicious.

To clear this up for the retarded:

Gravy IS a sauce. It's a SAUCE made from MEAT drippings. What the fuck do you think flavors my sauce? If this were marinara, alfredo, or something similar, I'd say SAUCE. When it's a big fucking pot of MEAT, it's gravy. 90% of italians agree with me, and the other 10% are guidos anyway.

I was going to bring it to work today for a pot luck... but not with the burnt crap. next time i make it, im bringing it in to work.

Yes, the bottom can burn very quick. I set a kitchen timer for 7 minutes and simmer on LOW heat. My girlfriend and I take turns stirring and skimming the fat, but still it's an all-day event. Usually I either stay in the kitchen with a guitar strapped on or I'll stand at the counter reading a book.

Rev, take some pics next time! I'd like to see someone with actual skill taking some food photos.

i did take pictures. they are just still on my camera.

sauce looks tasty... however i have to completely disagree with your comment of Neapolitan pizza. Plz take it back. kthxbye.

Pictures!

That's some delicious looking not-meat. What's it made of?

yup... def making a sauce this weekend!

I've seen so many hilarious photos, I gotta try to catch this show sometime.