Sunday Gravy

Which is actually what Italians call spaghetti sauce simmered with meatballs and sausage.

For some reason my gradmother broke tradition with the way her family made sauce and she made it differently. As a result, this is the way my mother made it and so how I make it.

For the sauce:
1 28oz can tomato puree
2 small cans tomato paste
3 tomato paste cans water
4 or 5 garlic cloves, minced
salt and black pepper
dried basil
olive oil

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
2 slices Italian or white bread, soaked in water and wrung out
1/3 C grated parmesan
Fresh or dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Also, have either 4 Italian sausages on hand

Mix all the meatball ingredients together by squishing it all between your fingers to blend well and form into golf ball sized meatballs
Brown the meatballs in olive oil and reserve in a small bowl. They don’t need to be cooked through at this point, just browned.
Brown the sausage and removed from the pan. These don’t have to be cooked through either at this point.

In a large saucepan, cooked the garlic in a little olive oil. Before the garlic browns, add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir to melt in the tomato paste. Add the meat, cover and simmer on very low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Sometimes my mother would also brown some english cut short ribs or some pork ribs and add those to the sauce if we were having a large group for dinner.