Grandma's Famous Sunday Gravy
The one everything else gets measured against.
Rosa starts the pot before church and doesn't sit down until the crew walks in at one. Some families call it sauce. In this family it's gravy, and nobody has ever won that argument with her. One pot feeds the meatballs, the chicken parm and the big Sunday pasta, so make the whole batch.
How Rosa does it
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper and brown it well on all sides, in batches if you need to. Move it to a plate.
Brown the sausages in the same pot, about 8 minutes, and put them with the pork. Don't clean the pot. That's the flavor.
Lower the heat to medium. Cook the onion until soft and golden, about 6 minutes, then add the garlic for one minute. Don't let it burn. Rosa will know.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook it 2 to 3 minutes, until it darkens a shade.
Add the crushed tomatoes, the puree, the water, the oregano, the red pepper flakes and the rind if you have one. Scrape up everything stuck to the bottom. Put the pork and sausage back in with their juices.
Bring it to a bubble, then turn it down to the lowest simmer with the lid slightly open. Cook about 3 hours, stirring every 20 minutes so nothing sticks, until the pork falls off the bone. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
If you're making the meatballs, fry them while the gravy simmers and slide them in for the last 30 minutes.
Tear in the basil, taste for salt and pepper, and fish out the bones and the rind. Gravy goes on the pasta. The meat goes on a platter in the middle of the table.
“Stir from the bottom. If it sticks, you walked away. I always know when somebody walked away.”
“One rule in this kitchen: nobody touches the pot. I've fixed a lot of things. I don't fix that.”