A simple marinara sauce recipe & sunday gravy

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Old 01-23-2015, 07:22 AM
senior citizen senior citizen is offline
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Default A simple marinara sauce recipe & sunday gravy

A simple marinara sauce is always nice on a lighter pasta such as angel hair , whereas the "SUNDAY GRAVY" below is what we grew up on, both in New Jersey & in New York City......& was still called by that name on Staten Island, N.Y. by my 84 year old cousin who recently passed away.



Simple Marinara Sauce


1 -# 10 can whole tomatoes (San Marzano or Cento....)

1/4 cup fresh parsley (Italian flat leaf) finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped

1 small can of tomato paste

2 tablespoons of salt

6 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon pepper

1 large onion , finely chopped

1/8 cup red wine

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation

Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil

Add tomatoes and paste.

Allow it to come to a simmer.

Add the basil and parsley

Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then add the red wine, salt and pepper.

Let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes. Makes 10 cups.

You can puree the sauce with a hand held mixer or puree in a blender......or not.


 
Sunday Gravy
4 pounds plum tomatoes , nice ripe ones

1 large can tomato paste (18 ounces)

1 large can crushed tomatoes (29 ounces) (San Marzano, Cento or Contadina)

2 pounds Italian sausage hot or sweet

2 pounds pork neck bones (or pork spare ribs)

2 pounds of meatballs

2 pounds pork tender loin (we always had Bracciole beef rolls in our gravy)

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

4 big cloves garlic

Crushed red pepper to taste

One tablespoon oregano

Small bunch of fresh parsley
Preparation

In a very large stock pot add olive oil and brown all your meat.

Remove the meat .......

Add garlic to the pot with the tomato paste and brown.

OUR FAMILY ALWAYS BROWNED THE GARLIC IN WITH THE TOMATO PASTE MUST BE SOUTHERN ITALIAN STYLE.......

Add tomato sauce with 5 cans of water, plum tomatoes and heat to boil.

Add oregano, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper to desired hotness, salt & pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil and reduce flame to low.

Add the meat back to pot and cook for about four hours. *********

Serve gravy with meat over your favorite pasta, ravioli, manicotti or what ever you desire.

My father's Italian family always called it gravy, we never called it sauce.
Sauce is marinara. This is SUNDAY GRAVY.

Makes approximately 12 servings.

IN LITTLE ITALY NEW YORK CITY BACK IN THE 1940'S & 1950'S THIS IS THE SUNDAY GRAVY ONE WOULD FIND IRRESISTABLE AS THE SMELL WAFTED THROUGH THE TENEMENTS plus THE HOMES OF ALL THE OLD ITALIAN GRANDMAS MAKING THE SUNDAY GRAVY FOR AFTER SUNDAY MASS AT CHURCH ............

MY FAMILY ALWAYS HAD BEEF BRACCIOLE (ROLLS TIED WITH STRING) ALSO IN THE SUNDAY GRAVY...... BUT THAT WOULD TAKE MORE WORK PLUS ANOTHER RECIPE. I ALWAYS LOVED THEM .

CONTINUED TO MAKE THEM WHILE RAISING OUR FAMILY.

AS KIDS WE ALWAYS CALLED IT GRAVY, JUST LIKE THE ELDERS..

THE PASTA WAS NOT PASTA...........IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS JUST MACARONI........NO MATTER WHAT FORM IT TOOK.

SUNDAY WAS ALWAYS A DAY OF REST...........AS NO STORES WERE OPEN. NO SHOPPING, ETC..........

JUST SUNDAY MASS, then SUNDAY DINNER WITH SUNDAY GRAVY.......

I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE THE SAME OR SIMILAR MEMORIES.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS.......

 

Last edited by senior citizen; 01-24-2015 at 06:44 AM.
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Old 01-23-2015, 12:24 PM
rdhdleo rdhdleo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by senior citizen View Post
A simple marinara sauce is always nice on a lighter pasta such as angel hair , whereas the "SUNDAY GRAVY" below is what we grew up on, both in New Jersey & in New York City......& was still called by that name on Staten Island, N.Y. by my 84 year old cousin who recently passed away.



Simple Marinara Sauce


1 -# 10 can whole tomatoes (San Marzano or Cento....)

1/4 cup fresh parsley (Italian flat leaf) finely chopped


1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped


1 small can of tomato paste


2 tablespoons of salt


6 cloves garlic


1 tablespoon pepper


1 large onion , finely chopped


1/8 cup red wine


1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation


Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil

Add tomatoes and paste.


Allow it to come to a simmer.


Add the basil and parsley


Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then add the red wine, salt and pepper.


Let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes. Makes 10 cups.


You can puree the sauce with a hand held mixer or puree in a blender......or not.



 
Sunday Gravy
4 pounds plum tomatoes , nice ripe ones


1 large can tomato paste (18 ounces)


1 large can crushed tomatoes (29 ounces) (San Marzano, Cento or Contadina)


2 pounds Italian sausage hot or sweet


2 pounds pork neck bones (or pork spare ribs)


2 pounds of meatballs


2 pounds pork tender loin (we always had Bracciole beef rolls in our gravy)


1/4 cup olive oil


Salt & pepper to taste


4 big cloves garlic


Crushed red pepper to taste


One tablespoon oregano


Small bunch of fresh parsley
Preparation


In a very large stock pot add olive oil and brown all your meat.


Remove the meat .......


Add garlic to the pot with the tomato paste and brown.


OUR FAMILY ALWAYS BROWNED THE GARLIC IN WITH THE TOMATO PASTE MUST BE SOUTHERN ITALIAN STYLE.......


Add tomato sauce with 5 cans of water, plum tomatoes and heat to boil.

Add oregano, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper to desired hotness, salt & pepper to taste.


Bring to a boil and reduce flame to low.


Add the meat back to pot and cook for about four hours. *********


Serve gravy with meat over your favorite pasta, ravioli, manicotti or what ever you desire.


My father's Italian family always called it gravy, we never called it sauce.
Sauce is marinara. This is SUNDAY GRAVY.


Makes approximately 12 servings.


 
IN LITTLE ITALY NEW YORK CITY BACK IN THE 1940'S & 1950'S THIS IS THE SUNDAY GRAVY ONE WOULD FIND IRRESISTABLE AS THE SMELL WAFTED THROUGH THE TENEMENTS plus THE HOMES OF ALL THE OLD ITALIAN GRANDMAS MAKING THE SUNDAY GRAVY FOR AFTER SUNDAY MASS AT CHURCH ............


MY FAMILY ALWAYS HAD BEEF BRACCIOLE (ROLLS TIED WITH STRING) ALSO IN THE SUNDAY GRAVY...... BUT THAT WOULD TAKE MORE WORK PLUS ANOTHER RECIPE. I ALWAYS LOVED THEM .


CONTINUED TO MAKE THEM WHILE RAISING OUR FAMILY.


AS KIDS WE ALWAYS CALLED IT GRAVY, JUST LIKE THE ELDERS..


THE PASTA WAS NOT PASTA...........IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS JUST MACARONI........NO MATTER WHAT FORM IT TOOK.


SUNDAY WAS ALWAYS A DAY OF REST...........AS NO STORES WERE OPEN. NO SHOPPING, ETC..........


JUST SUNDAY MASS, then SUNDAY DINNER WITH SUNDAY GRAVY.......


I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE THE SAME OR SIMILAR MEMORIES.


THOSE WERE THE DAYS.......

 
This brought back many memories, thanks for the great recipes! I am not Italian nor was I raised in an Italian neighborhood but for many years dated an Italian guy and his Momma would make all you spoke of every Sunday! OMG so good. I learned a lot from her but never had her recipe for her Gravy as she didn't use one so I am looking forward to trying this! I do make a mean stuffed artichoke though....LOL but those are pretty simple Thanks again!
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Old 01-23-2015, 12:55 PM
missypie missypie is offline
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I swear Senior Citizen, you should write a book. I have enjoyed so many of your recipes.
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Old 01-23-2015, 12:57 PM
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"AS KIDS WE ALWAYS CALLED IT GRAVY, JUST LIKE THE ELDERS."

Ditto in The Bronx. And the wine that was added was always home made.
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Old 01-23-2015, 05:43 PM
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Love the recipe, but I have a ? Do you cut the plum tomatoes and seed them, peel them, or throw them in whole? Thanks.
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Old 01-23-2015, 11:01 PM
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Where can you buy the thin sliced beef for the bracciole around here. I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
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Old 01-24-2015, 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted by kellyjam View Post


"AS KIDS WE ALWAYS CALLED IT GRAVY, JUST LIKE THE ELDERS."

Ditto in The Bronx. And the wine that was added was always home made.
Yes, my uncle Vito made the wine. It had no sulfites in it back then.
Just plain grapes. They grew their own grapes as well.

They all lived to a ripe old age with no cancer in that family. Just lots of good old fashioned cooking "from the heart".

We also had family in "The Bronx".
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Old 01-24-2015, 06:08 AM
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Default None of them used recipes

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Originally Posted by rdhdleo View Post
This brought back many memories, thanks for the great recipes! I am not Italian nor was I raised in an Italian neighborhood but for many years dated an Italian guy and his Momma would make all you spoke of every Sunday! OMG so good. I learned a lot from her but never had her recipe for her Gravy as she didn't use one so I am looking forward to trying this! I do make a mean stuffed artichoke though....LOL but those are pretty simple Thanks again!

None of mine used recipes either. Just from memory.

They would also roll out the pasta (macaroni) dough on the dining room table. That was also made from scratch.

When I was a young married, my Godmother (the baby of the family who had always helped her big sisters help their mother) wrote out, based on her memory of the time , what she remembers going into the pot.
It was a ritual after all........so she saw it every Sunday.

Growing up, we lived in a blended neighborhood in New Jersey along with those of German, Irish, Polish, Ukrainian, etc., etc. ethnicity.......but there were a few Italian families, whom I recall, especially the family next door to us..............my little friend's mom had to feed FIVE BIG SONS plus the father & the little girl.........I do remember her Sunday Gravy, but especially how they continued to eat it all week long (along with other things she cooked for supper......like roasts, chops, etc.).

By mid week there was VERY LITTLE MEAT LEFT IN THAT BIG POT.
She also packed lunch for SIX MEN each morning as they owned their own home improvement business (carpenters)........she made from scratch things like Eggplant Parm, Chicken Parm, Sausage, onions & peppers, etc., etc. all to go on huge Italian bread sandwiches...for their lunch boxes.

Italian men never went hungry, that's for sure.

As I also recall, myself plus other little girlfriends thought they took FORVER TO EAT their supper ........then little Mary had to sweep up all the crumbs from under the table..........before we could all play again.

Our suppers went quicker, as we had smaller families..........so we would sit on her back enclosed porch while they all finished eating............that was also back in the day of the butcher shops, so I would often accompany little Mary to get her mom's meat order for the Sunday gravy!!!!

My father was Italian....... both he & my Ukrainian mom made delicious sauce/gravy as well........but we didn't eat it all week long........we also made roasts & other things for Sunday dinner..........while my dad's Italian family continued on & on with the Sunday Gravy tradition.

I would love to have your stuffed artichoke recipe......I've never made that. Thanks in advance.
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Old 01-24-2015, 06:13 AM
senior citizen senior citizen is offline
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Default I'm trying to digitilize all of my old old recipes

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I swear Senior Citizen, you should write a book. I have enjoyed so many of your recipes.


I've been trying to digitalize all of my old recipes which have been kept on index cards in recipe boxes over the years.....plus just typed up & stashed in file folders..........when I come across a really nostalgic one, I like to share it.
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Old 01-24-2015, 06:35 AM
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Default Pound the thin round steak or flank steak with meat mallet

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Originally Posted by mac9 View Post
Where can you buy the thin sliced beef for the bracciole around here. I haven't been able to find it anywhere.



I always bought thinly sliced round steak or flank steak.
Not sure what they call it in Florida.

I would "pound it" with a meat mallet....that thins it out & stretches it out which makes it easier to place the "filling" on & then roll it up.

It's one of the first things I attempted to "cook" for my Polish hubby when we were married in 1965. I never cooked at home; my parents did it all.

Back then, a good cookbook.........or recipes from my Italian aunts or Polish mother in law...was how I learned.

Some people use string to tie them up......others use toothpicks.
We used white string.

When I get to my old recipe, I'll post it...........however, if my memory is correct, I used round steak or flank steak.

p.s.
An interesting story.........twelve years ago when I was deeply into my genealogy........I made a lot of cousin connections from Laurenzana, Basilicata Potenza Italy..........thanks to ancestry.com & the simple fact that all of these folks were looking for their roots at the same time.

It was a small mountain village in southern Italy.........but their descendants are now all over the United States, Canada, Australia, etc., etc.........even Argentina.

Long story short, I was befriended by many fellow "searchers".........however, one elderly gent was so sweet & kind, he even sent me the book he had written about his father's family in Laurenzana..........over the years (before he died) (he had been the head librarian/director of a big city library in Ohio)........he shared with me some of his family's recipes........ We were both amazed how similar they were.

He was living in an assisted living place at the time, in West Lake Ohio, but when he got tired of the "fare" in the dining room, he would whip up a little nostalgia in his apartment kitchenette. We shared many food "connections" via email.........he also gave me his entire family tree.

We were cousins many times over.

Coincidentally.......we both fried the garlic in with the tomato paste & a little olive oil, prior to beginning our sauce/gravy.

His BRACCIOLE was exactly how my father made his (based on how my Italian grandmother made hers).........& how my mom learned to also make hers.........(other regions of Italy or Sicily put various different fillings in their bracciole meat rolls).

He also knew what Saint Joseph's spaghetti was.....my father's name day dish.

It's really a very small world after all............I miss him; he was a sweet gentle highly intelligent gentleman.........never to be forgotten.
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Old 01-24-2015, 06:44 AM
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It seems to be prevalent in downstate New York New Jersey and possibly Boston area but its wrong wrong wrong. Gravy is brown its called sauce you can further use descriptors such as meat sauce , pasta sauce, etc but its sauce
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Old 01-24-2015, 06:52 AM
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Default They usually pop & split while in the hot sauce

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Originally Posted by gomoho View Post
Love the recipe, but I have a ? Do you cut the plum tomatoes and seed them, peel them, or throw them in whole? Thanks.

They usually pop & split while in the hot sauce/gravy......but you can cut them if you wish........


Obviously, they used them from their own roof top gardens or back yard gardens while "in season"......like the Roma tomatoes......plum tomatoes, small variety.


In the winter season, they used the canned tomatoes........so either way, or with both is still good............or just skip the fresh tomatoes.


JUST NEVER NEVER USE AMERICAN CANNED TOMATOES OR TOMATO SAUCE TO MAKE ITALIAN RECIPES.......


NOT/nada for Hunts brand nor Delmonte, etc. nor any store brand.


Nothing compares to SAN MARZANO.....CENTO....CONTADINA or any of the other Italian brands. WHOLE TOMATOES or CRUSHED TOMATOES.

FRESH TOMATOES if you wish. If not it will still be fine.

P.S. FRESH BASIL is always a great addition.......BUT DRIED IS ALSO O.K.
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Old 01-24-2015, 07:36 AM
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Great stories here. You sound like someone on Food Network. They tell the story as they are cooking...
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Old 01-24-2015, 12:26 PM
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Default HERE IS THE RECIPE FOR BRACIOLE (Brazol)

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Originally Posted by mac9 View Post
Where can you buy the thin sliced beef for the bracciole around here. I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

BRACIOLE ITALIAN MEAT ROLLS (Can use flank steak or round steak)


NEED: BUTCHER'S TWINE; DO NOT USE SEWING THREAD

OPTION: CAN USE TOOTHPICKS TO HOLD THE ROLLS TOGETHER

PRONOUNCED: BRAZOL with a long "O" sound

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs (such as Progresso flavored, although the oldtimers used plain bread soaked in water)

1 garlic clove, minced .........or more.

2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/3 cup grated provolone (optional) (some folks add raisins & pine nuts also) Some like to add Italian Prosciutto (ham); others like hard boiled eggs, chopped.

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

4 tablespoons olive oil (DIVIDED)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (1 1/2-pound) Flank steak or Round steak (I prefer the Flank Steak)

1 cup red wine

YOUR FAVORITE SUNDAY GRAVY.......(or add to marinara sauce).

If adding to the Sunday Gravy with the rest of the meats.......PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU BROWNED THE BRACIOLE FIRST, AS PER BELOW.


Stir the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl to blend. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.

Lay the flank steak flat on the work surface.

Cover steak with plastic wrap, and then pound the steak with a kitchen mallet or a hammer until is is about 1/4 of a inch thick.

Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the steak to cover the top evenly.

Starting at 1 short end, roll up the steak as for a jelly roll to enclose the filling completely.

Using butcher's twine, tie the steak roll to secure. Sprinkle the braciole with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the braciole and cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.

Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Can use white wine if that's what you have.

Place the braciole meat rolls into your favorite SUNDAY GRAVY......or just put it into your regular "pasta sauce".......it takes two hours or more to become fork tender.............even three hours on low.

Remove the braciole from the gravy/sauce. Using a large sharp knife, cut the braciole crosswise and diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer the slices to plates. Spoon the sauce over and serve with pasta.
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Old 01-24-2015, 12:52 PM
Blessed2BNTV Blessed2BNTV is offline
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Originally Posted by mac9 View Post
Where can you buy the thin sliced beef for the bracciole around here. I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
Fresh Market on 466. Made them this past Christmas. Butcher knows what they are and how to cut the meat.

Put a few in my freezer.....that reminds me.....tomorrow is Sunday....think I will make gravy!
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