The Complete Guide to Making Classic Italian “Sunday Gravy”

It wasn’t every Sunday, but on those special Sundays growing up, the smell sometimes hits you before you even get out of bed. Aromatic searing, loudly seared meat, crispy bread sliced ​​with serrated knives: you knew it was going to be a gravy Sunday.

Known for its extremely long simmer that tantalizes people with odors until lunchtime, Sunday gravy is one of the most flavorful gravies you can make. The tangy charred flavor permeates the tomatoes and makes the sauce richer and deeper in color than your typical tomato-based dishes like marinara.

Many of these “red sauce” dishes originate from Southern Italy, although Sunday sauce is not very common in Italy. One food blogger, Rockin’ Kitchen Sicily, says his mom always made a similar sausage and meat sauce while growing up in Palermo, so while it’s not common throughout Italy, it has really taken off in America.

Due to the long preparation time, the sauce is usually prepared in the morning, and a late lunch/early dinner of about two or three hours was typical in many families. Although it takes a while to simmer, this sauce comes together super quickly, sets like magic, and despite being described as ” food-obsessed Italians ,” it can be customized to suit your personal tastes.

Some Sunday gravies use one piece of meat, others use up to four pieces, but the one I grew up with only had two. The meat varies depending on who you ask: The publications use all four popular additions to cover their bases, avoiding heckling from said Italians who are angry about the food.

Folk wisdom includes pork and beef meatballs, country pork ribs, sweet pork sausage, and braciole—thin rolls of beef stuffed with seasonings. Both braciole and meatballs are labor intensive, so my theory is that many families chose one, while others, like mine, loaded up on both right away. These two have a lot of similar seasonings, like breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and lemon, so it’s up to you how meaty you want them.

Pasta’s literal heir Sarah Raffetto, chief operating officer of New York-based Raffettos and co-owner of Petite Pasta Joint , and her family have been stocking their shop for another staple ingredient in this tradition for nearly 120 years. They’ve been too busy making pasta for the rest of us to make our own Sunday lunches, but Raffetto offers her own traditions and we asked her for some expert tips on how to make this dish yourself.

“Spending every day in our Italian environment as a family gave me a sense of closeness that never made me question the lack of a weekly tradition,” she told me via email. “While I may be a recipe stickler (learning from a recipe book that requires consistency for retail), tasting along the way and adding my own twist to the classics has helped me enjoy the process much more and made me a better and better person. a more confident cook.”

Sauce is subjective. Now I said it, but Raffetto, a Ciao House Food Network veterinarian and nutritionist, has a lot of wisdom to bring to your own recipes. “I’ve found that using herbs and spices not found in a typical Italian pantry can make a really fun and memorable sauce,” she said. If you want to use a pinch of Georgian adjika or a large dose of Thai chili pepper, that’s your prerogative.

Raffetto has some tips for spicing up your sauce: “Ask yourself, what flavor do you like best? Do you like heat, special spices, light sweetness? There are no rules here, just have fun and gradually figure out what will lead you to a moment of pure satisfaction and pride in your work.”

Although the interpretation of sauce, pasta is not considered subjective. Most Italians, American and otherwise, agree that it should be al dente, and should be tossed with sauce and cheese, not just bare noodles covered in both.

If you’re in New York, Raffetto recommends stopping by: “My first choice is Raffetto’s rosemary fettuccine. In my family we are all big fans of rosemary and it pairs wonderfully with a rich meat sauce. Plus, last year we just started making fresh pasta extruded under a bronze die, so rigatoni became my second choice/obsession.”

Bronze-matrix pasta is known for its coarser texture, especially ribbed shapes like rigatoni, so Raffetto’s tips for choosing the best sponge for sauce are fortunately available at most grocery stores that carry the “fancy” big-brand die-cut pasta. If you can’t take them, choose a texture! Rigatoni and penne rigate are choices with plenty of surface area to absorb.

Before we get to the recipe, there are a few more tips you can use to make Sunday gravy less of an ordeal and more enjoyable.

1. Salt the sauce AT THE END. Salt added too early turns tomatoes into acid, which is usually why people add sugar. This is not necessary if you use good tomatoes and then add salt.

2. Buy in bulk, freeze in packages. If you want to use four types of meat in the sauce, go ahead! But unless you need extra sausage, extra meatballs and leftover sauce, it’s hard to buy just enough for four servings without having extra. Take two pounds of each meat and immediately freeze ¾ of it into three sauce packages.

3. Meatball tip: Use half sweet sausage and half lean ground beef instead of plain ground pork to really get the depth of flavor. While some people use milk and bread to make meatballs, our family recipe uses breadcrumbs, lots of grated garlic, parsley and lemon zest. They can also be purchased from a good butcher.

4. Don’t even bother chopping the garlic and onion; Coarsely chopped onion and a few chopped, peeled cloves will do. During cooking they will all dissolve in the sauce.

Not a quick (but definitely easy) Sunday gravy

Serves 6 to 8, or serves 4 with extra portions to freeze . Ingredients:

• ½ pound meatballs (about 5 medium)

• ½ pound sweet Italian sausage (about 3 links)

• Two country-style pork ribs

• ¼ cup cooking wine (I use old wine for this)

• Olive oil for frying pan

• 1 32-ounce can good quality peeled tomatoes

• 1 32-ounce can good quality crushed tomatoes with basil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

• 1 head fresh basil (if in season)

• 1 pecorino or parmesan rind (optional)

• Salt to taste

• Grated pecorino cheese for serving

• One pound of pasta for four people, cooked al dente.

• Two loaves of Italian semolina bread (you’ll need these)

Instructions:

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan and sear each meat on as many sides as possible. Don’t worry about cooking them, just get a tender crust on all sides.

2. Remove the meat and store it in an insulated bowl or on a baking sheet nearby. Reduce the heat slightly, add a little olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes until the meat is tender, then add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits of meat and fondue well.

3. Add the tomatoes and half the basil, then stir thoroughly. Add the meat back to the pan along with any juices, stir briefly again and then bring to a very low simmer, covering with a lid to protect from splattering.

Now the folk magic happens: the meat is cooked in the tomatoes, the house is filled with aroma, and people spend almost the entire day trying to sneak a taste – an old joke in every home that follows this tradition.

Note. After 90 minutes you can serve it, as long as the meat is cooked and the tomatoes have reduced by about 30%, but I really like a three-hour simmer to allow the ribs to fully break down. Stirring every 20-30 minutes usually helps; this is not a risotto that requires constant attention.

5. When the meat is cooked to your liking, add the remaining basil and add salt if necessary (remember, you will be adding cheese!). Turn off the heat, close the lid and boil salted water in a separate pan. Add pasta to desired shape, cook al dente, drain and return to pan.

6. Pour two or three spoons of sauce , sprinkle generously with cheese and stir gently to coat. Divide among plates, top with more sauce and a few pieces of meat, sprinkle with cheese and serve with crusty bread to make a scarpetta (or little slipper) to clean up the bowl.

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