My mother’s sauce is completely Italian-American, but it is my family’s favorite by far. The key is the flavor imparted by the browned-off meatballs and sausage. Browning these before adding them to the sauce firms them up and seals in their juices, which keeps the meat from falling apart and the sauce from getting greasy. If sausage does not interest you, it is not required to make the sauce taste great, so leave it out.
I normally brown off the sausage before making the sauce and meatballs, then I get the first hour of the sauce going before I start working on the meatballs. In most cases, the meatballs are ready to go into the sauce after an hour.
1 medium-large yellow onion, chopped
Half of a large red or yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 (28-oz) cans Cento crushed tomatoes (and then 2 those-sized cans of water)
3 (12-oz) cans Cento tomato paste (and then 9 those-sized cans of water)
3/4 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (cut back a little if the sausage is very hot)
1.78 tsp (1.6 g) dried basil (original recipe: 1 heaping tsp)
1 tsp salt for starters, 1 more tsp when the meat is added
When serving:
· Pasta of choice: homemade or macaroni (preferably De Cecco brand conchigliette, penne rigate, gnocchi, rigatoni, or spaghettini)
· Grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1. In a 16-quart pot, over low heat, sauté the chopped onion and red/yellow pepper in olive oil until the onions are soft and somewhat translucent, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes and, for EACH can of crushed tomatoes, add half a can of water (so, total of 2 crushed-tomatoes cans). Quickly rotate each can as you fill it halfway with water in order to help collect the remaining crushed tomatoes on the sides.
3. Add the tomato paste and, for EACH can of tomato paste, add 3 cans of water (so, total of 9 paste cans of water).
4. Add the salt (1 tsp), black pepper, crushed red pepper, sage, and basil. Mix until the tomato paste dissolves.
5. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over HIGH heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning. (I use a spatula with a wide, flat edge to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.) Lower to simmer and cook, covered, for one hour, stirring occasionally.
6. After it has simmered for an hour, add one more teaspoon of salt and all the browned-off meat. Cook, partially covered, for two more hours at a simmer, stirring occasionally. (Again, when you stir, be sure to scrape along the bottom to prevent anything burning.) Magic occurs during this stage: this is when the meat flavors the sauce.
7. After it has simmered for two hours, turn off the heat and let it cool, covered, on the stove for 3-6 hours. More magic occurs in the sauce. If I make the sauce in the evening, I just let it sit like this overnight.
· Storage notes:
Place in refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve. If you do freeze this sauce, be sure it is completely defrosted before you try to reheat it on the stove. Trust me on this, it’s a messy mistake: meatballs crumble, and the sauce burns at the bottom of the pot. So, allow enough time to let it defrost in the refrigerator (my larger containers have taken up to three days!) or microwave (over an hour).
· Serving notes:
I place meatballs and sausage in one serving bowl. Then in a wide, shallow pasta serving dish, I add, in this order:
§ enough sauce to cover bottom of dish
§ cooked pasta
§ a generous sprinkling of grated Pecorino
§ sauce to cover the top of the pasta
§ another sprinkling of grated Pecorino
I place additional grated Pecorino and sauce on the table. (The meatballs, in particular, taste better with extra grated Pecorino.)
