GRANDMA JOSIE'S SPAGHETTI SAUCE

GRANDMA JOSIE'S SPAGHETTI SAUCE image

Categories Pasta

Yield 10-12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

3 large onions
8-10 large cloves of garlic
1 industrial-sized can whole Italian plum tomatoes with basil (Can be found at Lotsa Pasta and Costco.)
18 ounces tomato paste
1 cup red wine
lots of fresh basil leaves
6 tablespoons sugar
crushed red pepper to taste
Country-style spareribs or lean pork chops
Meatballs (separate recipe or out of L.P.'s freezer section!)
2 pounds pasta of your choice

Steps:

Saute onions and garlic in a really large stockpot (probably at least 8-quarts) over medium-high heat until onions are cooked down considerably, though not blackened. (You'll need to keep checking on them and stirring from time to time.) Give them about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, puree the tomatoes in batches in a food processor, and then run them through a food mill set over a large bowl. (You will be extracting any seeds and skins from the tomatoes.) Add the processed tomatoes to the stockpot. Puree the tomato paste with the basil and the red wine in the food processor. Add some ladles of the more-liquid sauce on the stove to the mixture, in order to incorporate the paste into the sauce. Pour the contents of the processor into the stockpot and stir well. Add salt and pepper, sugar, and crushed red pepper to taste. Turn heat to low and cover partially with the lid of the stockpot. Stir from time to time. (It should barely simmer.) Meanwhile, precook 4-5 country-style spareribs in the microwave,covered with plastic wrap, with just a little water added, for about 10 minutes. (They won't be thoroughly cooked, but you will have extracted a lot of the grease before adding them to the spaghetti sauce.) Holding them with tongs, rinse under tap water, and add to the pot. Prepare the meatballs (separate recipe), and shape them to the size of about a lime. Allow the meatballs and the spareribs to simmer in the sauce for a couple of hours. Stir after the meatballs have had a chance to cook, about 20 minutes, and continue to do so from time to time. Cook the pasta of your choice in another large stockpot until al dente. Drain and ladle just enough of the sauce over the drained pasta in the strainer to keep the pasta from becoming sticky as it cools (2-3 ladles-full). Ladle the servings into individual bowls.