North End Sunday Gravy - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 recipe meatballs (recipe follows)
1/2 lb piece beef
1/2 lb piece pork or 2 -3 lean pork chops
1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
dried basil
dried mint
red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon sugar (to taste)
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
2 (28 ounce) cans ground tomatoes
2 (28 ounce) cans water
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1/4 lb ground pork
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh parsley or 8 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation

Fry beef and pork in 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large saucepot.
Remove meats as they brown and add another 1/4 cup oil to the juices in the pan.
Saute the onion, garlic, and 2 pinches each of the seasonings until the onion is transparent.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the paste melts into the oil. This is called \"Italian roux\".
Stir in an extra couple of pinches of the seasonings. Add the tomatoes and blend.
Fill the two tomato cans with water and add water until the sauce is as thick as you like it. Remember the sauce is going to cook down.
Let the sauce come to a boil and add salt and pepper and an additional 2 pinches of seasonings.
Return the meat to the pan and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so using a wooden spoon.
Brown the sausages in some olive oil and add to sauce with sugar to taste. Simmer another hour.
Make meatballs and either fry in oil or bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Add to sauce.
Cook for an additional hour. Add water as it cooks if you think it needs it, but you should have a sauce that doesn't separate on the plate.
Remove meats and let sauce settle for a few minutes until fat rises to the top. Skim as much fat as possible from the sauce. The less fat it contains, the better the sauce.
This sauce freezes beautifully.