NANA'S SUNDAY GRAVY....According to Nana, it's just 'red sauce' until you add the meat, when you add the meat, it's 'gravy!'

**IF YOU WANT TO JUST MAKE A RED SAUCE / MARINARA...JUST LEAVE OUT THE MEAT!**

What you'll need:

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin with a razor blade or minced (or buy the pre-chopped or minced, use 2 teaspoons if you do that)
1/2 of a large onion, minced or chopped (depends on how you like it...and if you're like me, who likes onions a lot, I use a whole onion)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (my favorite is Cento)
2 cans of whole, peeled, San Marzano tomatoes **San Marzanos are sweet, so it makes it less acidic**
1 can (6-8oz) tomato paste (again Cento)
1 Tablespoon sugar (use just under a tablespoon) **The sugar is used to prevent the agida...it helps make it less acidic. Some people use a minced carrot for this purpose, I prefer the sugar**
Teaspoon of salt
Teaspoon of pepper
2 tablespoons dried basil (you can also chop some fresh basil instead if you like, use a little more if you use fresh) I like a lot of basil

In a large, deep pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and fry the onion until soft...add garlic, If you've sliced it paper thin, it will liquify in the pan....if you've minced it, let it fry until just brown (but don't let it burn otherwise it'll make it bitter!)

Add the cans of crushed tomatoes to the pot and stir, put some warm water in one of the cans and add to the pot.

Take the whole, peeled cans of San Marzano tomatoes and empty into a bowl. Wash your hands, then crush the whole tomatoes with your hands (my grandmother SWORE by this) Once they're all crushed, add to the pot, along with another can of water and stir.

Add one can of tomato paste and stir.

Add, basil, sugar and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer, let simmer on LOW for at least 3 hours....it should be barely bubbling because you don't want it to burn, so go back every 15 minutes or so to stir it...make sure it doesn't stick.....if it's too thick for your liking, add a little water to it.

Meanwhile, make the sausage and meatballs!

If you can't get fresh, sweet Italian sausage from an Italian store, get a package of Johnsonville Sweet Italian sausage (it's really good) and fry the links in a pan on medium heat until they're done...take them out of the pan, add a little bit of water to the bottom of the pan and scrape the pan of the bits....put it in the sauce (trust me...)

Cut the links in half and add them to the sauce (which is now 'gravy' since you just added meat!)

You can also get pork ribs to add in.... I just get about 8 baby back ribs, trim the tops to get rid of any tiny bone fragments and fry them in a pan with a little oil until they're brown on all sides, then add to the gravy......when you go to pull the meat out to put on a platter later, do not be surprised if you end up just pulling out rib bones...if you're doing it right, the meat will fall off the bone...

WHAT YOU NEED FOR NANA'S MEATBALLS:

This recipe will make 24 meatballs. If that seems like too much, it's not, use what you want, then just freeze the rest... they they freeze really well so you can take just a few out at a time to defrost.

2 lbs ground beef (15%-20% fat...you can use a leaner meat, but I prefer a fattier meat)
1/2 lb ground pork (not pork sausage, just regular pork)
OPTIONAL- 1/4 pound ground filet mignon...most butchers will look at you like you're nuts and you don't 'need' it but it brings the level of the meatballs up from amazing, to super amazing
2 cups bread crumbs, (Progresso Italian style is what I use, but any will do fine, I am not a huge fan of Panko bread crumbs for this purpose)
4 eggs
1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
1/4 cup parsley
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesean/ Romano blend)
2 garlic cloves chopped (or get the pre-chopped minced or chopped garlic, just 2 teaspoons of that)
1/2 onion, minced or chopped finely
salt/ pepper to taste

Heat oven to 380 degrees. **When I have time, I will fry the meatballs, but it's more time consuming and I've found that my baking method works really well.**

In a large bowl, take the beef and pork and mix together well with your hands.

Add, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, parsley, olive oil, grated cheese, garlic and onion...mix well, really squeeze it through your hands (nana swore by this as well) Add a little salt and pepper (maybe 1/2 teaspoon of each) and mix well again.

Now this is going to sound silly, but it makes a difference... let the mixture SIT for a half hour (put a paper towel or towel over the bowl)

After that half hour, take a large cookie sheet with a rim of at least 1/4 inch, spray lightly with PAM. (If you're going to fry them, fill a fry pan with enough oil to cover half the meatball...and let the oil get hot...)

Get a small bowl and fill it with some water...(trust me)

The mixture should feel sticky... Shape the mixture into meatballs, if you feel they're too sticky, just dip your hand in the water and continue to shape. Try to make them each a little larger than golf ball size and you should get about 24 evenly shaped ones. Place them each in the pan as you go...

(Again, if you're frying them instead, when the oil gets hot, put the meatballs in, let them fry on one side, then turn...then fry on the 2nd side until they're done, then put them on a paper towel to drain the oil, then add to the sauce)

Once done with shaping all the meatballs, place pan in oven and let cook on 380 for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, turn your oven to BROIL...and let broil for about 5 minutes (keep an eye on them you don't want them to burn) so they get a nice crust (just like you'd get if you fried them)

Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes on the stove.... after that, add as many meatballs to the sauce as you need.

Let remaining ones cool, put in a freezer bag and freeze for use later...the good thing about this is that they're quick to defrost if you want a couple for something later in the week or add to another sauce sometime, etc.

Let gravy cook with meat for another few hours for maximum taste!

I usually take all the meat out of the gravy before serving and put it on a platter, separate from the macaroni....

If making ravioli, be sure to put a little 'gravy on the bottom of the platter before adding ravioli in a single later...add more gravy, add more ravioli and so on. Same for lasagna...and if you're making that I would highly suggest using Polly-O ricotta and Polly-O mozarella if you can find it....trust me, if you can get it, try it, it's better than ANY OTHER ricotta I have ever used, but it's not easy to find here in LA, your best bet is Italian markets, like Monte Carlo Deli in Burbank.

If you're making spaghetti or another kind of macaroni, make sure after it's cooked to drain it (don't rinse it) and put it back in the pot with two pats of butter...add a little 'gravy' to it and mix, the sauce will stick to the pasta... then transfer pasta to a platter and add more 'gravy'... put extra 'gravy' on the table for anyone who wants more.

Bill Handel