Cooking Italiano: Ahts a speecy – a spicy meata-bawla

Well, now that I shared the EZ-PZ recipes, it’s time to graduate to something a little more complex…but still simple…Just follow the directions.

Meatballs and Gravy! Here’s a little fun fact: Did you know when it comes to Italian cooking that a Sauce becomes Gravy once meat is cooked into it? That’s right. And this recipe is something that can be used in so many ways, appetizer, sandwiches, main dish, along with pasta (am I repeating myself?). When it comes to making meatballs, so many will either fry them, which makes them hard or bake them, where they will lose the flavor from the fats and juices. I Poach them. What this does is infuse the flavor of the meat into the sauce and the sauce into the meat. This recipe is a difficult one for me to share only because I have always done this by sight and taste and never measured. So, here goes….

Shopping List for Sauce:

1. Garlic Oil (or olive oil and finely chopped garlic). If using garlic do not brown it as it will become bitter.

2. 1-20 oz can Crushed Tomatoes

3. 1-20 oz can Tomato Sauce

4. 2-14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes

5. 1 small jar of Ragu Chunky Garden Sauce (OK…yes, I do cheat a tiny bit but this helps to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes). Some people add sugar but I feel it never quite works in reducing the acidity.

6. ½ Handful of dried Oregano

7. ¼ Handful of dried Sweet Basil

8. ½ Handful of dried Italian Seasoning (Herbs)

9. 4 dashes of dried Red Pepper Flakes (don’t go too crazy or you will have super spicy gravy)

10. ½ C dry white wine (Optional) or ½ C Chicken Broth (to rinse out the residual tomatoes in the can… you don’t want to miss a drop!)

11. 1 C Grated Parmesan cheese

Shopping List for Meatballs:

1. 2 lbs. ground Chuck (no substitutes…must be chuck) (Keep it Cold)

2. 1 lb. ground Sweet Italian Sausage (Keep it Cold)

3. 1 C Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

4. 1 C Milk

5. 3 Slightly beaten eggs (1 egg for every pound of meat)

6. 2/3 C Grated Parmesan cheese

7. 1 Handful dried Italian Seasoning (Herbs)

8. ½ Handful dried Oregano

9. ¼ Handful dried Sweet Basil

Start off at a high heat with 1/8 C of Garlic Oil in the bottom of a large heated pot. Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Heat. Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Keep stirring so it does not burn on the bottom. Take the wine or chicken broth and rinse the cans of sauce and crushed tomatoes. Pour into the pot. Continue stirring until boiling. Reduce to medium heat. Make sure to keep the sauce hot because you will be poaching the meatballs.

While the sauce is heating, prepare the meatballs:

Place both the ground chuck and ground sweet Italian sausage into a large bowl. Add 1 Tbsp of course kosher Salt and 2 Tbsp course black pepper. Add 1 handful of dried Italian Herb Seasoning, ½ handful dried Oregano and ¼ handful dried Sweet Basil. Add the breadcrumbs, then the milk then slightly beaten eggs. Add 2/3 C of Grated Parmesan cheese. Mix by hand until all ingredients are completely incorporated.

Take a handful of the ground mixture and roll into a ball. I like making the large meatballs rather than the tiny ones. Carefully drop into the bubbling tomato sauce. Continue making the balls and drop in different places. You don’t want them to touch each other until they are fully poached. Take a large spoon and carefully cover any exposed meatballs so that the heat from the sauce cooks the meat. Add 1 C of the Parmesan cheese over top and cover with a lid. Do not stir in the cheese at this time. Reduce the heat to very low. Covering with a lid will help the cheese melt into the sauce and you will continue to see a slow boil.

At this point keep a close eye on the gravy. Put the spoon around the side of the pot to carefully scrape the bottom so that the gravy does not stick and burn (nothing worse than burnt gravy) and so that you do not break up the meatballs. The gravy will start to boil even though it is on low heat. So, stand by it and continue to carefully scrape the bottom of the pot. Once you see the meatballs start to rise to the top, they are pretty much poached but not yet ready to eat. You want that gravy to absorb into the meatballs and the juices from the meatballs into the sauce. I would say this would be about ½ hour to 45 minutes of cooking time (so long as the gravy remains very hot and bubbly).

At this point you should be able to remove the pot from direct heat. But keep it covered so that it continues to cook but doesn’t burn. Once you see that the meatballs are firm, carefully mix them with the gravy.

After sitting for about another ½ hour, try them! Don’t forget to add the Parmesan cheese on top. Italian food is All About the Cheese!

You can store leftovers in the freezer. Italian food is even more flavorful leftover especially after freezing it. That is why you don’t want to put too much of the pepper flakes when cooking because it does intensify after freezing.

Enjoy! I think next week I will post a recipe where you can use the Gravy and Meatballs in “Lazy Man’s (or Woman’s) Lasagna.

Thecia DeLap is not only a successful mortgage lender for VanDyk Mortgage Corporation, but is also an Italian culinary artist who knows her way around the kitchen and has experience cooking, catering, entertaining and planning for large corporate events as well as smaller gatherings. To reach her, you can email her at thecia1@hotmail.com or message her at: http://www.facebook.com/vandykmortgagethecia