Italian Gravy - aka sauce

[Runena]

¼ cup Bacon Fat
2 Tbsp. size of dried Parsley Flakes (rub in palm)
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp. Fresh Minced or Chopped Garlic (3 cloves diced or ¼ tsp. Powder)
1 Onion (when adding leave it whole (sweet Vidalia size of baseball)
2 – 3 pieces of Boneless Pork ribs (very fatty)
1 Pkg. Mild Italian Sausage (don’t use Hot because it adds a tangy flavor)
2 - 20oz cans of Progresso Recipe Ready Crushed Tomatoes with Sauce
2 - 12oz cans of Contadina Tomato Paste
1 - 12oz can of water – use the Contadina Tomato Paste Can
Salt and Pepper to taste
- Serve over your favorite pasta (roughly 3 (16oz or 1lb) boxes of Mostaccioli Rigati for this recipe)

Meat Preparation:
In a frying pan heat Bacon Fat until melted, brown Sausage first and then remove from pan, then add pork (you don’t want to completely cook the pork). The remaining fat in the pan will be used for the Meatball recipe.

Gravy Preparation:
In a 6 Quart pot add Parsley, Bay leaf, and Garlic. Sauté over low heat for 1 minute. Add Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, water and remaining Dried Ingredients, stirring until well blended. Then add whole Onion, Salt and Pepper to taste. Finally add Pork and Sausage. Cook a minimum of 4 ½ hours (usually 6 hours to reduce the acidic taste of the tomatoes in the sauce), stirring Frequently to prevent sticking. Longer cooking time makes sauce thicker.

Note: 1 Hour before sauce is done add meatballs and Fat from frying pan.




Meatballs

¼ cup Bacon Fat
4 Eggs
3 lbs. Ground Chuck
½ cup Bread Crumbs (Italian or regular)
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Salt

In a medium size bowl mix all ingredients using hands. (If the mixture is still too wet, add more breadcrumbs). Take approximately 1/12 of mixture and roll in the palms of hands forming a ball. Place in a frying pan, which was previously used to cook sausage and Pork just add the additional ¼ cup Bacon Fat. Fry over medium heat allowing meatball to brown well on bottom to prevent breaking or turning. Brown on all sizes. When meatballs are browned add to sauce at least one hour before sauce is finished cooking, may be longer. Pour drippings from frying pan into sauce and stir well. The drippings will add a lot of meat flavor to the sauce. Place meatball’s, sausage and pork chops in a bowl. Put sauce over Pasta and serve.

[Rahkx]

mmmm.. I've been looking for a good recipe for sauce. When I have the time I am definitely going to have to try this.

Thanks much.