Life's Journey

Passport & Plate - Grandmom's Sunday Gravy

USA | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 5 photos

-56 oz of Crushed Tomatoes
-1 bunch Basil
-3 tbs crushed red pepper
-3 tbs chopped garlic
-1 sweet onion
-1/2 cup Olive Oil
-1 lb ground beef
-2 lbs Hot Italian Sausage
-3 pinch salt
-1 pinch sugar
-1 pinch flower

How to prepare this recipe
The first thing you must do is pour yourself a glass of red wine, and then we can start cooking. Pour a 1/4 cup of olive oil into a large pot over medium high heat. Chop the onion and garlic and place into the pot and stir continuously for about 3 minutes until the onions start to soften and caramelize a little. Next pour the 56 Oz of crushed tomatoes into the pot cover and turn heat to medium. Chop up the basil and red peppers and add to the sauce after bringing the sauce to a slight boil turn heat to low. Pour 1/8 cup of oil into frying pan and turn to medium-high. Slice the hot Italian sausage into 4 inch pieces and place in pan, brown the sausage on all sides about 3 or 4 minutes then place the sausage onto a paper towel to allow a little of the grease to be soaked up. Put the Italian sausage into the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 hours. Pour an 1/8 of the olive oil into a frying pan on medium high. Next, season the ground beef with a pinch of salt and place in the frying pan, cook the ground beef until it is browned which should take about 4 minutes and then place onto a paper towel to allow some grease to be soaked up. Add 2 pinches of salt, 1 pinch of sugar and 1 pinch of flour and the ground beef to the sauce and allow to simmer for another hour. After that hour, the sauce has turned to my Grandmother's Sunday Gravy and I usually serve it with some freshly cooked pasta and garlic bread.

The story behind this recipe
When I was a kid my whole mother's side of the family would get together at my Grandmothers' row home for dinner every Sunday night. She came from a big Italian family, with 8 brothers and sisters and I had about 20 cousins. We would cram into this row home; enjoy each other’s company while everyone tried to yell over each other for attention until my Grandfather would quiet everyone down with the loosening of his belt. You knew this meant be quiet and don't run in front of the TV. My Mother, Aunts and Grandmom would be in the kitchen making this Sunday Gravy recipe and it was always delicious. These Sunday's bring back some of my fondest memories of my youth. Unfortunately my Grandmother died when I was around 12 and the Sunday dinners with the extended family ceased to exist. I loved my mother’s cooking so her Sunday dinners were good enough for me at the time. Regrettably, at the age of 15 I had a life-changing event happen to be when both of my parents died in a car accident, I did not know what to do; it was a hard period in my life to live through. The following spring my brother had traveled to Italy for school, so some of my extended family decided it would be a good idea if we all visited him over there for a week. This trip was a breath of fresh air in my life, seeing my extended family all together around a table of Italian food brought me back to my childhood memories and how many great times I had with my family and my parents. Before I went to Italy, my idea of cooking was throwing frozen chicken nuggets in the microwave, but when I returned I decided to take up cooking. I did this because it not only allowed me to remember those fond memories as a kid, but it also allowed me to feel like I had my mother next to me in the kitchen. Cooking became something I did to keep my Mother's memory alive and I hope someday to pass this great tradition and recipe along to my children.