Moms Sunday Dinner Italian Ragu With Meatballs And Italian Sausage Recipes

ITALIAN RAGU WITH MEATBALLS AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a large sauce pot (8-quart size minimum), heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil on a very low flame. Add the diced onion and cook slowly until it has turned translucent. Do not brown the onion, but allow it to almost melt away. Add the garlic cloves and very lightly cook them in the oil until golden before adding the tomatoes and all their juices. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the basil leaves and set the heat on low. Allow the tomatoes to cook at very low heat for at least 2 hours before adding the meat.
• Make the meatballs: mix the ground beef and veal together in a large bowl. Combine the bread and milk and mash together to form a paste; add the bread to the ground meat. Add the eggs, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper to the meat mixture and combine all the ingredients using your fingers to mix uniformly, but do not over mix or the meat will dry out when cooked. Pick up 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll it into a ball shape, between the palms of your hands. Do this until you have used all the meat. This should yield approximately 24 meatballs.
• Place the remaining olive oil in a heavy skillet and heat over medium flame. Add the meatballs in 1 layer and brown on all sides before removing. Do this to the remaining meatballs until all are browned to a caramelized color. After all the meatballs have been browned and removed from the skillet, add the sausage links and brown well, following the same method as the meatballs. When all the meat has cooked, add to the tomato ragu, which has been cooking for 2 hours and cook an additional hour. Serve the tomato ragu over rigatoni pasta cooked to manufacturer's directions. Serve the meats on another plate as a second course.

MOM'S SUNDAY DINNER: ITALIAN RAGU WITH MEATBALLS AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 1. In a large sauce pot (8-quart size minimum), heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil on a very low flame. Add the diced onion and cook slowly until it has turned translucent. Do not brown the onion, but allow it to almost melt away. Add the garlic cloves and very lightly cook them in the oil until golden before adding the tomatoes and all their juices. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the basil leaves and set the heat on low. Allow the tomatoes to cook at very low heat for at least 2 hours before adding the meat.
• 2. Make the meatballs: mix the ground beef and veal together in a large bowl. Combine the bread and milk and mash together to form a paste; add the bread to the ground meat. Add the eggs, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper to the meat mixture and combine all the ingredients using your fingers to mix uniformly, but do not over mix or the meat will dry out when cooked. Pick up 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll it into a ball shape, between the palms of your hands. Do this until you have used all the meat. This should yield approximately 24 meatballs.
• 3. Place the remaining olive oil in a heavy skillet and heat over medium flame. Add the meatballs in 1 layer and brown on all sides before removing. Do this to the remaining meatballs until all are browned to a caramelized color. After all the meatballs have been browned and removed from the skillet, add the sausage links and brown well, following the same method as the meatballs. When all the meat has cooked, add to the tomato ragu, which has been cooking for 2 hours and cook an additional hour. Serve the tomato ragu over rigatoni pasta cooked to directions on box. Serve the meats on another plate as a second course or with the pasta. (We always couldn't wait til the second course!)
• 4. NOTE: If using plum tomatoes, make sure using a wooden spoon while cooking, you break up the tomatoes. You can also freeze this in batches and use when needed.
• 5. You can make this sauce your own by adding what herbs you like. Oregano or Basil, All Beef Meatballs if you prefer. My mom did all the combinations. MANGIA!

SUNDAY RAGù

Steps:

• Make tomato sauce:
• Pulse tomatoes with juice (1 can at a time) in a blender until almost smooth.
• Heat oil in a wide 10-to 12-quarts heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté onion until golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.
• Add tomato purée, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 40 to 45 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
• Make braciole while sauce simmers:
• Stir together garlic, parsley, cheese, and pancetta.
• Pound top round to 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin or meat pounder. Spoon parsley mixture evenly over beef cutlets (about 3 tablespoons each). Starting with a short side, roll up cutlets and tie at each end with string to make braciole.
• Make meatballs:
• Form reserved meatball mixture into balls (about 16), using a 1/4-cup measure.
• Cook meats:
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Season braciole with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (total) and brown well in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large shallow pan.
• Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown sausage in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to pan with braciole.
• Pat pork shoulder dry and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown pork shoulder all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pan.
• Pat pork ribs dry and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown ribs well in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to pan.
• Heat reserved oil from polpette in skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry meatballs in 2 batches (do not crowd), turning occasionally, until well browned, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels using a slotted spoon. (Discard oil.)
• Finish ragù:
• Return sauce to a simmer and carefully add all meats and juices. Simmer, partially covered, gently stirring occasionally (do not break up meatballs), until all meats are tender, about 2 1/4 hours.
• Transfer meats with tongs to a large platter. Serve with fettuccine and remaining sauce.

ITALIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE WITH SAUSAGE AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Cut the sausage links in half and place them into a 6 quart stock pot.
• Add the olive oil and garlic, stir to coat; brown on medium heat stirring often to keep them from burning.
• Add the tomato sauce, puree, basil, oregano and salt to the browned sausage and reduce heat to low; cover and slow simmer.
• MEATBALLS.
• Mix ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, Worcestershire and eggs together in a bowl.
• Shape meatballs into size of your choice and place into a shallow glass baking pan.
• Preheat oven to 400°F and bake meatballs from 20-40 minutes depending upon size.
• Add meatballs to the sauce and let simmer for 3 hours;stir occasionally and skim the fat off the top so the sauce is not greasy when it is done.
• Add the tomato paste 1 hour before the sauce is done to thicken it up.
• 1/2 hour after adding the tomato paste test the sauce; if it is too sweet from the paste add the beef base to counteract the sweetness--if not, leave this out and enjoy!

MOM'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Soak bread in some water for 2 or 3 minutes, then squeeze out moisture.
• Combine bread with everything else except olive oil, mixing well.
• Form in small balls (about 20).
• Brown slowly in oil, watching closely to prevent scorching.
• Add to spaghetti sauce.
• Cook 30 minutes in the sauce.

MEATBALLS SAUSAGE DINNER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Combine broccoli, potatoes, carrots and onion. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with sausage. Shape beef into 1-in. balls; arrange over top. Pour broth over casserole; sprinkle with lemon-pepper seasoning. Bake, uncovered, until meatballs are no longer pink, about 40 minutes.