12-18…SUNDAY GRAVY…Pasta meal number 145 since May 1.

The keys to any successful pasta diner.


Today not only felt like a Sunday, it smelled like one. At least did once I started the gravy for tonight’s dinner. As you hopefully know by now, Sunday gravy is a thick, rich sauce usually with a meat base: meatballs, beef, chicken, pork, or a variation of any of them. Today’s gravy is based on Italian sausage and pork neck bones. It has been on the stove since mid-afternoon, filling the house with the most delightful Sunday fragrance.



INGREDIENTS:

Pork neck bones
Italian sausage
Olive oil
Garlic
Onion
Dried basil and oregano
Red wine
Peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes,


PROCESS:

Brown the meat, remove, and set aside. Deglaze the pot with red wine and add the results to the meat.

In olive oil cook the garlic and onion until soft, then add the tomatoes, salt, and spices and bring to low boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the meat to the sauce, cover, and simmer for one to two hours, stirring occasionally. If you want the sauce to be thicker remove the lid completely or partially.

When the pasta is ready, remove the meat and add the sauce to the pasta, serving the meat separately.


COMMENTS:

If there is any one dish that epitomizes my entire life this is it. Oh, there are other great pasta dishes, some perhaps even better than this, but nothing has been as constant throughout my entire life as the Sunday pasta meal, and it never fails to satisfy me beyond description.

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 4...DAY 22 Sunday Pasta

It's Sunday...and that means Sunday's gravy. Today I used sausage instead of chicken or pork neck bones. The recipe/process is essentially the same, just substitute sausage for the other meats. (see posts on 5/8 and 5/ 22) Life long habits are hard to break, although this is one I have no desire to change.





This is the end of the fourth week of the Pasta Quest and I have to say that I am not tiring of the exercise. However there will be a break in the action when I leave for a trip back home next week. Fortunately since I will be visiting family in New Jersey and Philadelphia there will be no shortage of pasta in my diet.

PASTA QUEST DAY 7...SUNDAY PASTA

Today is the day I try to recapture my mother's kitchen...an impossible task. My childhood Sundays had an aroma and flavor that will be with me until the day I depart this dear planet, and it all came from the pot on the stove. My mother's gravy. (There is disagreement among Italian-Americans as to the difference between gravy and sauce. Some feel if it has meat in it, it's gravy, if not, it's sauce. In our family, everything was gravy.) The gravy, with whatever meat it might contain, meatballs, sausage, beef, chicken, or a combination of several, would simmer on the stove all morning in preparation for our mid-day Sunday meal.

Today's gravy was made with chicken thighs and served on linguini, my wife's favorite pasta. It made to the stove around 3:30, and Patience and I enjoyed an early dinner at 6 PM.

5-8-11





Sunday Pasta…like mom used to make…just not as good.

INGREDIENTS:

28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes*
Olive oil
Garlic/onions
Chicken thighs, bone in skin removed
Red wine
Salt, pepper, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes

PROCESS:

Brown chicken in olive oil and remove, de-glaze pan w wine and add the “stuff’ to the chicken.
Cook garlic, onions and red pepper flakes until soft, then add the tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Add the chicken, basil, oregano, cover and simmer over low heat for 2-hours. If the sauce is too thin remove lid and/or add 1-2

Comments:

Patience gives this an unqualified 10.5. My modesty requires me to limit it to a 10. This gravy/sauce is so good it should be declared illegal! If you should ever have the opportunity to have dinner at La Casa Renzulli this is the stuff you should request.



*I purchase my tomatoes on line from… http://www.ditalia.com/…they have several brands. My favorite is Rega