Authentic Italian Gravy Food

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place 1 cup red wine, oil, beef neck bones, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt and black pepper in a roasting pan; stir to coat. Roast neck bones and vegetable mixture in oven until vegetables are tender, 1 hour. Stir in about 2 tablespoons red wine while scraping any brown bits of food off the bottom of the pan. Roast until vegetable are browned, about 30 minutes. Pour vegetable mixture into a 16 quart stock pot over medium-low heat; simmer for 30 minutes. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, basil, oregano and parsley; stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce reduces, 4 to 6 hours. Remove neck bones from sauce; scrape marrow out of bones. Add marrow to sauce and simmer until dissolved, 1 to 2 hours. Add choice of meat to sauce during the last ½ hour of cooking. For a smooth sauce, blend in batches until smooth. Add Italian sausage or other meat to sauce after blending. Option: Cook one pound of pasta in ½ gallon water, just until al dente, reserve pasta water. After sauce has cooked add to it ¼ cup pasta water and al dente pasta. Cook until pasta is completely cooked. This allows the pasta and sauce to combine their flavors for an exceptional tasting meal.

ITALIAN TOMATO GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Saute the garlic, red pepper flakes, and herbs for 2 minutes until the herbs are fragrant and garlic is golden (but not overly brown.) Raise the heat to medium, add onion and carrot; cook for 5 minutes until they breakdown and are soft. Deglaze with red wine and reduce to evaporate the alcohol. Hand crush the canned tomatoes and add to the pot, along with its liquid. Add a pinch of sugar to cut down on the acidity from the tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

ITALIAN GRAVY

Steps:

• Cover the bottom of a 10 quart pot with olive oil and set over medium heat. Add short ribs, oxtails, country style spare ribs and beef neck bone and brown them with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon granulated onion, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Cook until both sides of meat are browned. Remove meat to a bowl and set aside. In the same pan add the sausage and ground beef. When ground meats are cooked through, drain grease and oil from pan. If there are any large pieces of the ground meats, break them up or pulse in a food processor. Add to bowl with other meats, set aside. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into pot and saute onions, Italian parsley, garlic, shallots, jalapeno peppers, and pesto. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic and 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion. When onions are limp, add all of the reserved meats. Over medium heat, add 2 cups red wine. While this mixture is cooking, in a separate saute pan, add 1/4 cup olive oil and over medium heat saute mushrooms. Raise heat to medium high and add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 granulated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon sugar. When mushrooms are browned add them to meats along with the tomato puree, tomato sauce and stock. In a food processor pulse stewed tomatoes with tomato paste until smooth and add them to the pot. Add allspice, Italian seasoning, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon granulated onion. The gravy must cover the meat and come close to the top of the pot. Reduce heat to the lowest simmer and cook uncovered for approximately 4 to 5 hours. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When meat on oxtail is tender, take all of the whole meats out of the pot, leaving the ground meats in. To complete gravy, add 1 tablespoon granulated garlic, fresh basil and cream sherry. Serve the meat with gravy and pasta. Remove the rest of the gravy from the heat and let cool for 2 hours at room temperature then divide into pint containers and freeze.

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN AMERICAN MARINARA SAUCE/ RED GRAVY

Steps:

• Rough chop onion and garlic.
• Heat up a large pan on medium heat.
• Pour in all of olive oil.
• Dump in onion and sauté until soft.
• Add garlic, bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Stir all together into a mess and continue to cook, if it seems to hot, turn down the heat, you don't want to burn anything.
• Once everything is well mixed and cooked, turn up the heat for about 1 minute. I tell you to do this as you are about to add the balsamic vinegar to "deglaze" and you will want the pan hot.
• Add balsamic, stir quickly while hot steam rises. the vapors should make you eyes water, and nose run, so be careful to remain hygienic. when vapors stop remove from heat.
• Open all the cans of crushed tomato.
• Stir in one can at a time with wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
• Once all cans are in, stir well again so you don't see any oil on the top of sauce. return to heat. Cook on low heat uncovered, stirring whenever you walk into the kitchen for some other reason. You don't need to stir it every hour, but do it whenever you get around to it. although you do need to stir it from time to time.
• Cook for at least five hours. If you want to do this while you go to work, you can transfer everything to a crock pot, but you must start in a big metal pot. Your choice.
• Serve over your favorite pasta, or use to cook my meatball recipe, which is highly recommended ( look at the reviews). doing my meatballs is particularly easy if you have transferred gravy to a crock pot, but if you do you may need to remove some sauce to fit the balls in the sauce.
• Freeze left over sauce, just pour cooled sauce in zip-lock bags and throw in freezer.

ITALIAN GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Place pork shoulder in pot, and pour in 1/2 cup white wine and 3 cups water. In a small bowl, combine oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1/4 of spice mixture over pork. Cover, and cook for 30 minutes turning occasionally. Add water periodically if needed.
• Pour in tomato puree. Fill cans with water, and pour in (about 6 cups). Stir in remaining spice mixture and the sugar. When liquid starts to bubble, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 4 to 5 hours. Stir occasionally, and adjust seasonings to taste.

AUTHENTIC HOMEMADE ITALIAN GRAVY (SPAGHETTI SAUCE)

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or pot (large enough to contain all sauce ingredients) over medium heat. When hot but not smoking, add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant. Be sure to stir every couple minutes so the garlic doesn't burn. If you want to leave the garlic in the sauce, you may do so, but if not, now is the time to remove garlic from the pot. I personally leave it in because my family loves garlic. If you choose to remove it, there will only be a very subtle garlic flavor present in the sauce.
• Add ground beef to pot with onion and olive oil. Fry, breaking up until small pieces are all that's left. Drain if excess oil is present; I recommend using lean ground beef for health reasons and draining.
• Once drained, add both cans of tomatoes, filling with 1.4 can of water afterwards to rinse the remaining sauce out and add to pot. Add chopped or broken up basil leafs if using fresh, or add dried basil at this time. Also add salt and pepper to pot. Stir well, breaking up any large chunks of tomato against the side of the pot.
• Allow pot to come to a simmering boil, and then turn heat down to low. Place lid on the pot, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Allow to simmer for 30-45 minutes. When the proper time has passed, taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper to your liking.
• Once this time has elapsed, your sauce is done and you are ready to use it for whatever you want - baked ziti, lasagna, spaghetti, stuffed peppers, or over polenta. You can also make a meatless version by simply omitting the ground beef, and you may use the sauce for pizza as well! It's a great, flavorful, and very versatile sauce for all occasions. Enjoy!