Originally Posted by
VegasInsider
Quick meatball and gravy 'recipe.' I put it into quotes because not all ingredients are measured.
4 Hot Italian Sausages
4 Mild Italian Sausages
1 Small Spanish Onion
1.25 lbs 80/20 ground beef
Tablespoon Table Sugar
Oregano
Salt / Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Olive Oil (NOT EVOO, you don't sautee with EVOO - it's a finishing oil that people abuse)
4 Cans "Kitchen Ready" Tomatoes
1 Small Can Tomato Paste
2 Eggs
Italian Breadcrumbs (Regular BC are fine too)
2 Bay Leafs
For Meatballs:
Combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, oregano, salt, pepper and mix until binded. Heat up sautee pan to Medium with 1/4 inch of olive oil. Roll the meatballs to desired size, add to sautee pan and brown evenly. Only takes a minute on each 'side'. DO NOT COOK THE MEATBALLS ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Just brown on the outside, you'll see why later. Once meatballs are done, place aside and let rest
For Sausage:
Finely dice Spanish Onion and sautee in a big pot with a little big of olive oil on Med-Low heat. Once the onions have "sweated" and are clear, add the sausages and brown evenly. These take 3-4 minutes each side. Once finished, strain the onions/sausage and leave the pil in the pot.
For Sauce:
With the pot that has the oil in it, add the 4 cans of tomatoes, 1 can of paste, sugar, bay leafs, salt, pepper and 2.5 tomato cans of water. Boil on high and stir occasionally. Once the sauce is boiling, add in the meatballs/onions/sausage, reduce heat to Med-Low (Setting 2-3 if your stove has that) and cover. Stir every 20 minutes (including the bottom of the pot) and make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. If your sauce tastes smokey, it's because you didn't scrape the bottom. Ideally, let the sauce go for 3 hours (it'll be reduced by about half) or if you don't have that long...an hour will be alright.
This will make enough sauce for you and your family for days. If it's more than you thought, freeze some into individual portions. It reheats great and tastes no different.
Note: This was taught to me by my grandfather when I was a kid.