Traditional Italian-American Tomato Sauce

When I went away to college in Vermont I went without good Italian pasta and tomato sauce for sometimes months at a time.  When I moved off campus to an apartment, I actually learned how to make sauce from my mother so I could get through those long spells.  Pasta, or as we called it "macaroni" with sauce was a Sunday tradition at home as it is/was in many an Italian-American household.

After my mom passed away, Dad took over.  We would go there almost every Sunday, usually for pasta.  This is where Leon learned to appreciate Italian cooking and the use of grated cheese.

Today's sauce is "from scratch" except that I am not using fresh tomatoes or making tomato paste from fresh tomatoes.  That is a bit too Martha Stuart for me.  Canned tomato paste and canned tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, fresh-frozen basil, grated Romano cheese is the base.  Add fried meatballs, Italian sausage links, and leftover pork roast with gravy (pan juices) for the meat flavor.

One little odd procedure involves "frying" the tomato paste in olive oil and garlic.  Now I don't know if this is common or necessarily important, but it is done that way among members of my extended family.  Maybe a food chemist or food historian can figure out why it is done that way.

We made the pork roast last night and already fried up the sausages.  Here is a refresher on meatballs which I posted before using ground turkey.

Meatballs:
Several crusts of dry Italian bread, about 2 cups in volume
2 pounds of lean ground beef or a mix of beef and pork
1 finely chopped onion (about 1cupin volume)
½ cup grated parmigiano (parmesan} cheese
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped fine (or ¼ tsp garlic powder)
Fresh parsley, chopped (about ½ cup)
Fresh basil leaves, chopped (4 or 5 large)
2 - 3 eggs
1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper

Soak the bread in warm water to soften and squeeze out extra water
Add the meat and all the other ingredients and mix by hand
Form into meatballs and fry in a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil
(Alternative: place meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 till cooked through)

This also makes a great meatloaf – bake with sausages on the side, then cut up the leftover meatloaf into “square” meatballs and add with the sausages in your tomato sauce.  Or stuff some large bell peppers and cook them in a skillet, turning to cook all sides, then bake in a casserole with tomato sauce.

Tomato Sauce:
PORK is the key to the sweet flavor of this sauce: use pieces of a pork roast that has been roasted with lots of garlic and red wine or, in a pinch, sauté a couple of pork chops with garlic, salt and pepper and red wine, then add to sauce

2 tbs olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large or 2 small cans of tomato paste
1 large can of tomato puree and/or whole tomatoes and/or
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
5 or 6 large fresh basil leaves
¼ cup Romano cheese
Leftover roast of pork loin, cut into pieces
6 hot Italian sausages, cooked
12 or more meatballs

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan
Add the chopped garlic
Add the tomato paste and spread it into the olive oil with a wooden spoon being careful not to burn it

Put water into the tomato paste can to loosen all the paste that is still in the can

Pour this into the saucepan
Add the tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and/or the puree

Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, adding a little water if too thick

Add the meatballs, sausages, roast pork, basil and Romano cheese

Simmer at least 2 to 3 hours over low heat,  occasionally stirring gently, (skim off the fat/oils that rise to the top of the saucebefore stirring) being careful not to let the sauce burn on the bottom of the saucepan

Serve with your favorite pasta and fresh grated pecorino Romano cheese

Tonight we're having rigatoni.  Dinner's Ready!

(this is a serving bowl - not an individual serving)