Real Eye-talian Gravy and Meatballs

Just in time for Sunday dinner--pasta, meatballs in home-made gravy

Image by ritae & mit, pixabay.com

That’s exactly what we ate every Sunday. I’m third-generation Italian-American, which means I have absolutely no connection to Italy. Fortunately, I grew up with an Italian grandmother, and a mother and three aunts who could speak Italian (or Sicilian), and all knew how to make great meatballs. How good does it get?

I’m no chef—a pretty good cook, just above a short order cook, but I have a few exceptional recipes. The tomato sauce and meatballs are two of the best. Even as simple as they are, they always get compliments. Of course, they come from the previous mentioned ladies.

FIRST THE MEATBALLS

Every one of them had a slightly different version of grandma’s meatballs. For example, Aunt Angie revised the recipe to include beef, veal and pork. always added a nice touch of parsley. All of the aunts used leftover stale bread and soaked it in milk to add filler plus fresh, chopped garlic.

My mother and Aunt Maisie were pretty much a strict constructionist and used grandma’s beef only version. Sadly, all of them have passed so never again those unique gastronomic treats.

Almost every Sunday after mass, we’d make the rounds of grandma and the aunt’s. All of them left about a dozen freshly sautéed, un-sauced meatballs in a bowl on the counter for we kids to munch on. They loved to feed you, and you know, food is love.

I latched onto to their basic recipe with a few modifications. I eliminated the mild soaked bread and just went for Italian bread crumbs. I have never failed to get a compliment whenever I serve them. So now I share it with you.

The recipe is totally basic, but it’s as close as you get to real “Eye-talian.”

Now I never actually measure any of these ingredients so I’m “guestimating.”

·2 pounds ground meat (I use 93% lean)

·1 ½ cups Italian bread crumbs

·3 cloves garlic chopped fine or pressed

·1 tbs. onion powder (or finely chopped onions sauteed in butter)

·1 large egg

·1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·Salt to taste

You should take out the ground meat in advance to let it warm or else your hands will freeze kneading it. I’m sure you can use a dough mixer, but I never have.

In a large bowl spread out the ground meat so the ingredients can cover as much of it as possible. Add the bread crumbs, egg and the rest of the ingredients. Knead the mixture up well so they all evenly mixed. Customize the size of your meatballs to  your aesthetic sensibility.

Sauté them in olive oil, to get a nice browning of the meat. You have to put a decent amount of olive oil in the frying pan on high heat. Watch them for a few minutes and shake the pan before they stick or take tongs and gently turn them over.

Once they’re browned on a few sides then add them to your sauce and finish cooking them. As I said, it’s simple, but you get a great meatball. Try it. You'll get some compliments.

NOW MY ITALIAN GRANDMA'S SECRET TOMATO SAUCE

Most Italians Call It Gravy!

Image by Catkin from Pixabay

My meatball recipe is served best with my super-secret tomato sauce recipe (real Italians call it gravy). 

Growing up my grandfather had a large, vegetable farm in Buena, New Jersey-- a few hundred acres. He grew cucumbers, squash, parsley, sweet potatoes, cabbage, but mostly tomatoes.

Acres and acres of tomatoes. Since he had so many tomatoes, it was obvious that he should start a canning factory, which he did. Twin Cedar Packing Company.

He canned whole tomatoes, ketchup and tomato sauce. It was the best tasting tomato sauce around. There weren’t fifty different brands in the supermarket like there are today and certainly nothing like the taste of his.

He probably took it from a basic recipe from my beloved grandmother that was passed down to her daughters and to me via my mother. Delish! Served with my “Grandma’s Secret Meatball Recipe,” it’s a killer.

Here it is: keep it a secret.

Ingredients:

• 4- 28 oz. cans of tomato puree

• 1 - medium onion finely chopped

• 4 - cloves of crushed garlic

• 3 - tablespoons of butter (I know. Bad for you, but it adds richness to the sauce)

• 4 - large leaves fresh basil or 2 tablespoons of dried basil

• 2 -tablespoons of oregano

• 2 -teaspoons of sugar

• 2  - tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil

• 2  - teaspoons salt (adjust this to your taste)

• 1 -  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (again, adjust to your taste)

Begin heating the puree over a medium high heat. Some purees are thicker than others so you might have to add some water to make it the consistency you like.

In the meantime, chop up the onion and sauté it in a separate pan in the butter. Heat on medium high until onion is softened. Add the crushed garlic.  

Dump into the puree. Add the basil, oregano, sugar, EVO, salt and pepper. Stir it up good and let it simmer for a good hour or two on low heat. Stir it often so it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot. It will boil down so you can add more water for your preferred consistency.

This is also a great vegetarian sauce if you don’t add the meatballs. To add more flavor I like to cook up a pound or two of Italian sausage and dump that in the gravy to give it more flavor. My mother always added some pork.

Pretty simple, but I think you’ll like it. Mangia!