Homemade Tomato Sauce “Gravy”

What in the world tastes better than homemade tomato sauce and family gathered together? Sundays, at my house always meant pasta and gravy for dinner (Italians call tomato sauce "gravy"—I think it's a Brooklyn thing).  We would usually start dinner at 2:00 and eat and talk for hours with lots of Italian bread, meatballs, and sausage.  While my family no longer eats dinner at 2PM on Sundays, we still eat dinner together as a family almost every night. Family dinners are not an obligation, they are a chance to catch up on the day’s events and we look forward to them.  They have always been a time of sharing and bonding, a tradition that I have continued with my own family.

The tradition of making your own sauce is quickly disappearing with the advent of jarred tomato sauce, but one that should be cherished. Every Italian family has their own recipe for gravy. God forbid I try to change it; I’d have a revolt in my house. But of course our family’s recipe is the best—or so my family tells me.

Makes 8-10 serving with 2 pounds of dried pasta

Ingredients

1 TBS Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic (minced)

½ lb Ground Beef (93% Lean) *

1 28oz Can Hunts Tomato Puree plus ½ can of water

1 28oz Can Hunts Crushed Tomatoes

2 TBS HuntsTomato Paste

2 TBS Grated Italian Cheese

1 tsp Dried Parsley

2 Bay Leaves

½ tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

1 tsp Table Salt

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Overcooking the garlic can make the sauce bitter. Add the meat and break it up into small pieces with your spoon.  When the meat is completely cooked (no more pink), add all the other ingredients (tomato puree through salt) and stir until it comes to a boil.  Turn down the heat to low and simmer for at least 1 hour (I will sometime cook it for up to 2 hours) uncovered, stirring frequently.  Do not rush this or your sauce will burn and will not thicken properly.

Vegetarian Version for Lent: Omit the meat for a meatless marinara. 

Freezing:  Tomato sauce freezes very well.  In fact, in our house we preferred the taste of the tomato sauce after it has been frozen.  Just put it in a freezer container for up to two months.  We will usually make a very large pot of tomato sauces (see photo) and freeze it in separate containers to last us for up to two months.

Italian Sausage: We frequently add Italian Sausage to the sauce.  Precook the sausage (Italian Turkey Sausage is also good and a lot more healthy) in the microwave on high for 5 minutes in a microwave safe container.  Brown the sausage in a large pot before you start the sauce.  Remove the sausage and pour off any excess fat from the pot.  Add your olive oil and garlic and continue as above. Add the sausage back to the pot once all of the other ingredients have been added.

To print a copy of this recipe go to Tomato Sauce.