Today, Gommy is going to give you the most delicious recipe for spaghetti sauce you will ever make. I can remember visiting my Aunt Susie during my summers in Detroit. Aunt Susie was married to my dads' brother, Uncle Pete. Dad and Uncle Pete came over from the 'old country' (Italy in their case) in the early 1900's. Even though I am exactly half Italian on my dads' side and exactly half Irish on my moms' side, I always gravitated to the Italian part of me when it came to food. I just love spaghetti, pizza, lasagna.....but who doesn't really? When we drove up the driveway at Aunt Susie and Uncle Petes', we could smell wonderful aromas coming from her basement kitchen window. Aunt Susie was under five feet tall so her basement kitchen was scaled down so she could do her magic more easily. She made her own spaghetti noodles in that magical kitchen and not with any new-fangled machine either. She mixed, rolled and shaped her noodles with her own hands. Hence the term 'homemade'. I can remember watching her making a 'well' in a pile of flour mixture and filling it with an egg mixture and wondering what she was going to do so she didn't make a mess! She never made a mess.....She made spaghetti noodles , lasagna noodles, ravioli and gnocchi as well. She had a homemade wooden dowel that was about as long as she was tall that she used to roll the dough out with and then she would cut the noodles whatever thickness she needed with a knife. They were always perfect and I can still see her noodles strung up on wooden rods all around the basement to dry and if I close my eyes, I can still conjur up that wonderful aroma that eminated from her pots of sauces. I can remember watching her plop little piles of ricotta and spinach, or meat and ricotta in dollops on her dough that was rolled out just the right size to accomodate a line of the mixture. Then she would cover them with another strip of dough and then cut them in cute little squares to boil later. Aunt Susie had sisters that were crazy-good cooks too and the funny thing was, each ones' sauce tasted different, even though they used the same ingredients. They were all good, each just tasted a little different from the next. My mom was lucky enough to be trusted with the family recipe for the 'best sauce in the world'. Now, I know everyone thinks their sauce is the best, but you'll have to try our 'family recipe' and judge for yourself. You have to put aside the better part of a day because you can't hurry a good thing. But it's worth the wait. I gave the recipe to a friend of my daughters' over 15 years ago and she still makes it for her family to this day.....The legacy goes on. The recipe is for a big pot of sauce that you can freeze in containers for future meals.
Recipe :
2 lbs good ground chuck meat
sweet basil (ground and fresh) & oregano
3 chicken legs
2 eggs
small roast ( i.e. 2lb rump roast)
salt & pepper
4 boneless pork chops
olive oil
2 onion (chopped well)
6 large cans crushed tomatoes (the ones that are about 30 oz)
4 cloves garlic
2 small cans tomato paste
2 green pepper (chopped well)
Italian bread crumbs (1- 1/2 cups)
I make my meatballs first by having the ground meat ground twice (at the store) so it is light and airy. Then mix one cup of the onions and one of the chopped green peppers, 2 eggs, a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper, 1 tablespoon of basil (remember to crush it in the palm of your hand first to let the essence come out), one half teaspoon oregano and the bread crumbs in the meat mixture. The meatballs should be about the size of a golf ball.
Next, put enough olive oil to cover bottom of heavy pot (the heavy pot is so it won't scorch while cooking). Add the chopped onion and green pepper you didn't use in the meatballs. Cook just until onion becomes transparent. Add garlic but don't let it brown (it will become bitter if you aren't careful). Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse inside of tomato cans with about a third of the way with water to get out every good drop and add to pot. Now you add your raw meat to the sauce mix. You don't cook the meatballs first. That is what makes them so 'airy'. Trust me.....then put in the other meats (raw as well). The roast will just fall apart when the sauce is done and I love, love, love it that way.....YUMMMMMMM. Then add about 3 or 4 tablespoons of salt and one tablespoon of pepper. Taste to see if there is enough salt. Some people use a dry red wine in their sauce. If you do, I would suggest about a half cup. You don't want to overpower the sauce. Never, never, never, ever use sugar....YUCK!
Cook, covered for about 3 hours, stirring often to make sure it isn't sticking on the bottom. After the first hour or so is when I usually 'steal' a little saucer of sauce and take a hunk off a loaf of Italian bread and dip it in the sauce for a wonderful snack. It will take about 3 hours for all the ingredients to 'meld' together. The last hour, add a handful of fresh basil. When the sauce is finished, take out the meat and portion it for any use you need for your own family. I am starting to salivate right now, so I'll close for now. Caio! Enjoy..... PS-let me know how you do.....
