MOM'S SUNDAY DINNER: ITALIAN RAGU WITH MEATBALLS AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Mom's Sunday Dinner: Italian Ragu with Meatballs and Italian Sausage image

Mom's usual Sunday dinner served with Rigatoni, Cavatelli, Gnocci, Spaghetti or whatever pasta on hand. Real Italian sauce is made with very few ingredients, but so full of flavor. The meat in this recipe also flavors the sauce. Nothing beats my mom's Sunday dinner although it has slowed down since my father's passing but when...

Provided by Annamaria Settanni McDonald

Time 5h30m

Number Of Ingredients 20

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Ingredients

MEATBALLS
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
3 slice italian bread
1/4 c milk
2 eggs
1/4 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/3 c pecorino romano cheese
salt and pepper
RAGU
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 clove garlic, peeled and left whole
2 qt crushed tomatoes or plum tomatoes in sauce
12 basil leaves (or oregano) to your liking
salt and freshly ground black pepper
ADDITIONALLY:
2 lb italian sausage, hot
any pasta to serve with sauce
grated parmesan or romano cheese for garnish

Steps:

1. In a large sauce pot (8-quart size minimum), heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil on a very low flame. Add the diced onion and cook slowly until it has turned translucent. Do not brown the onion, but allow it to almost melt away. Add the garlic cloves and very lightly cook them in the oil until golden before adding the tomatoes and all their juices. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the basil leaves and set the heat on low. Allow the tomatoes to cook at very low heat for at least 2 hours before adding the meat.
2. Make the meatballs: mix the ground beef and veal together in a large bowl. Combine the bread and milk and mash together to form a paste; add the bread to the ground meat. Add the eggs, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper to the meat mixture and combine all the ingredients using your fingers to mix uniformly, but do not over mix or the meat will dry out when cooked. Pick up 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll it into a ball shape, between the palms of your hands. Do this until you have used all the meat. This should yield approximately 24 meatballs.
3. Place the remaining olive oil in a heavy skillet and heat over medium flame. Add the meatballs in 1 layer and brown on all sides before removing. Do this to the remaining meatballs until all are browned to a caramelized color. After all the meatballs have been browned and removed from the skillet, add the sausage links and brown well, following the same method as the meatballs. When all the meat has cooked, add to the tomato ragu, which has been cooking for 2 hours and cook an additional hour. Serve the tomato ragu over rigatoni pasta cooked to directions on box. Serve the meats on another plate as a second course or with the pasta. (We always couldn't wait til the second course!)
4. NOTE: If using plum tomatoes, make sure using a wooden spoon while cooking, you break up the tomatoes. You can also freeze this in batches and use when needed.
5. You can make this sauce your own by adding what herbs you like. Oregano or Basil, All Beef Meatballs if you prefer. My mom did all the combinations. MANGIA!