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Description: 
I find that most people try too hard to make gravy for their
spaghetti. There are only four
basic ingredients in good spaghetti sauce. The first step
is the most important part of this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 large onion
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
1 large can (or fresh) Italian Style (plum) tomatoes no skins
Sweet Basil dried or fresh
This is all you need to make a really good master gravy
Instructions:
Dice the onion, mince the garlic. In a large pot, add enough
extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Add
the diced onion and a little salt to start the sweating
process. Slowly cook the onion until golden (caramelized).
Half way through the onion cooking, add the garlic. You want
the onions and garlic to finish at the same time. You don't
want the garlic to burn. The onions are now the sugar for
your gravy. If you burn the garlic...just start over, there
is no salvage.
Once
the onions and garlic are finished, stop the cooking by adding
the tomatoes and the liquid from the can. Either chop the
tomatoes or just squeeze them with your hand to break them up.
Add 3 or 4 rough chopped basil leaves or sprinkle about a tbsp
of dried sweet basil to the gravy. If you must add tomatoe paste,
add it just before adding the tomatoes. Add it to the onions and
let it cook while stiring. Don't burn it! No lumps. Then add the
rest of the tomatoes.
Cover and simmer for about 2 hours stirring
ocassionally. Gravy too thin? Slide the lid off a little, let some
steam out. Gravy too thick? Add enough water to thin it out and
recover. Use salt sparingly in this gravy. The cheese you will
use later will have enough salt in it to make up the difference.
That is all there is to good Italian gravy. But this is only the
beginning, the possibilities are endless.
Variations:
Now it gets interesting. Brown some beef, pork
and veal, just brown it. Let it finish cooking in the gravy.
Clean some crabs, let them cook in the gravy.
Mussels, clams, cook in the gravy.
If you like your gravy spicy, add red pepper
flakes to the onions and garlic in the first step.
Calimari (squid) Mince the tentacles and add
to gravy while cooking. Clean the squid, remove the skin, cut
into ¼ inch circles and
add to gravy 5 min before serving.
Mushrooms, rough chop and add to the gravy
while cooking.
Meatballs?
Equal parts, ground beef, pork and veal. Mix ground meat
with breadcrumbs, one egg, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. Roll into
balls, brown in pan and finish cooking in the gravy. For an
interesting flavor, add some raisins to your meatballs. The
combination of the garlic and raisins is very tasty.
Sausage? Brown in pan, finish cooking in the
gravy.
Chicken? Remove skin, simmer in a frying pan
in the gravy. Add some fresh string beans and diced potatoes...yummy.
This dish can also be cooked in the oven.
And of course, pasta..any kind. Finish off
any of your dishes with a good Pecorino Romano cheese, Locatelli
is highly recomended. Grate the cheese just before use. It's
quite salty, very sharp and smells like the feet of an angel.
A good Chianti or Pisano wine will go great
with any of these dishes. The wine should not be shy.
Mangia! Mangia!
Ciao
MARINARA TOMATO SAUCE (Serves 2-4)
Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
4 cups San Marzano tomatoes (or large can Italian Roma Tomatoes) - crush tomatoes in bowl and remove seeds
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup white onions (diced)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Pinch Salt
1/2 tsp.coarse ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Cooking Instructions:
1) In a large saucepan, sauté garlic, onions and seasonings in oil until translucent
2) Add the tomatoes and the stock to the saucepan and simmer
3) Add seasonings and continue to simmer until sauce thickens (continuously stir sauce) (about 30 minutes)
4) Add Salt and pepper to taste and fresh basil
Plating Instructions:
1) Cook your favorite pasta in boiling salted water and drain
2) Add pasta to tomato sauce and delicately blend pasta with tomato sauce
3) Plate in pasta bowls and sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese and fresh basil |
