My Updated Version Of My Mom's Sauce...

...complete with my Just Wing It Meatballs!

Sunday Sauce

1 - 28oz. can crushed tomatoes plus 1 can of water
1 - 14.5oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
1/4 cup good white wine
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, pushed thru a press
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 package sweet Italian sausage
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 - 4 large basil leaves

In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned well on all sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Add the white wine and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes, scraping up all of the browned bits. Add the garlic and cook for a minute then add the onions and cook until tender, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the crushed tomatoes, water, tomato paste, sugar and basil, stirring until well blended. Season with salt and pepper.
On very low heat, cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
Add the sausage back to the pot, cover and continue to cook until it has cooked through, maybe a half hour or so.
Serve your sauce with your favorite pasta and enjoy!



Just Wing It Meatballs

So the reason I call them that is because I had never made meatballs before. So on Sunday I thought it would be a great idea to try. No recipe...just throwing things together in a bowl.....and it worked!

2 1/2 lbs. ground beef, veal and pork
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (not Italian style)
1/2 cup grated good quality Romano cheese
3 slices white bread, crusts removed, soaked in milk and crumbled
3 - 4 cloves garlic, pushed thru a press
3 large eggs
Fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients, smushing it up with your hands until very well blended.
Roll the meat mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place on a cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. You can also finish cooking them in the sauce or fry them up in a pan with olive oil.

Footnote - I cook my meatballs in the oven until they are done then let them just sit in the sauce for 5 or so minutes.