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© Copyright 1995-2023, Clay Irving <clay@panix.com>, Manhattan Beach, CA USA
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Recipe from: recpharm@hotmail.com
This is my great-grandma's meat sauce. She had been making it since the 1920s and my family has been making it ever since. My grandma wrote it down around 1960. I had to scan the fragile 50 year old paper in my scanner to preserve the original notes on making it. Obviously, filtered water, fresh garlic, and high-quality ingredients make a better meat sauce for your spaghetti and your meatball subs.
For the Meatballs:
1 pound ground beef — I use the 20% fat stuff
1 pound pork sausage — I used Farmer John's Pork Sausage
8 ounces bread crumbs — Italian Style package is best
2 eggs
4 crushed garlic cloves — I use a garlic press with fresh cloves
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
For the Sauce:
2 6 ounce cans tomato paste + 32 ounces water
3 28 ounce cans Crushed tomato in Purée + 56 ounces water
3 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning mix
2 tablespoons salt
pepper
8 crushed garlic cloves — I use a garlic press with fresh cloves
Other:
olive oil
4 chopped garlic cloves
1 diced onion
1 tablespoon Salt
8 pork sausages — I prefer hot and spicy Italian sausages
10 quart stainless-steel pot
Mix the meatball ingredients, then roll out the meatballs. Video on construction of meatballs: http://video.about.com/italianfood/How-to-Make-Meatballs.htm. Concentrate on the part where he rolls out the meatballs with his hands. His recipe won't make good meatballs for spaghetti — not enough fat, so not enough meat flavor to the sauce.
Gently Sauté the oil/garlic/onions/salt on low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the garlic/onion from the oil with a slotted spoon, then use that oil to brown the meatballs and sausages on medium heat. You want it brown/caramelized, not burnt on the outside of the meat stuff. Set the meat aside. It will take 3 batches to brown everything in your 10 quart pot.
In the same pot, drop in the 2 cans of tomato paste and the 32 ounces of water. Boil on medium for 20 to 30 minutes, up to 45 minutes if you have the time. Use a spoon to get all the crusty bits off the bottom of the pot — that is all flavor — as you boil.
Next, add the 3 cans of purée and 2 cans of water. Bring to a boil, then add in the meatballs and sausages, garlic, dried seasoning, salt and pepper. Boil with the lid askew over the pot for an hour on medium-low heat. That is about it. Pull out the meatballs and sausage, pour the sauce into some large jars, and you got meat sauce and meat for 2 to 3 nights for 4 people.
Suggested Servings:
Make meatball subs with garlic bread and cheese one night, and spaghetti another night.