flipSugo della domenica — Sunday gravy with meatballs and braciole
Sugo della domenica — Sunday gravy with meatballs and braciole
Why this dish? The sacred ritual of the Italian-American Sunday — and a nod to cinema: in 'The Godfather', the scene where Clemenza teaches Michael (played by Pacino) how to make sauce to feed 'twenty guys' embodies this family know-how passed down through generations.
A tomato sauce simmered for hours with meatballs, sausages, and a braciole (stuffed beef roll). The sauce coats the pasta as a primo, the meats are eaten afterward as a secondo.
Sunday was sacred, you see? From morning, the 'gravy' would start simmering — not a 'sauce', no, we called it gravy. You brown your sausages, your meatballs, your braciole, and you let them cook for hours in the tomato, real slow, real slow. You gotta stir, you gotta taste, you can't be in a hurry. When the whole family sat down at the table, that smell... it was more than a meal, it was who we were.
- •Canned tomatoes and tomato paste — several cans (sauce base)
- •Ground beef and pork for meatballs — a good amount (meat)
- •Italian fennel sausages — a few (festive meat)
- •Beef slice for braciole, stuffed with garlic, parsley, pecorino — one piece (centerpiece)
- •Garlic, basil, parsley — generously (herbs)
- •Stale bread and egg to bind meatballs — a little (binder)
- •Pecorino romano — to taste (salty umami)
Sugo della domenica — Sunday gravy with meatballs and braciole
A tomato sauce simmered for hours with meatballs, sausages, and a braciole (stuffed beef roll). The sauce coats the pasta as a primo, the meats are eaten afterward as a secondo.
Why this dish? The sacred ritual of the Italian-American Sunday — and a nod to cinema: in 'The Godfather', the scene where Clemenza teaches Michael (played by Pacino) how to make sauce to feed 'twenty guys' embodies this family know-how passed down through generations.
Sunday was sacred, you see? From morning, the 'gravy' would start simmering — not a 'sauce', no, we called it gravy. You brown your sausages, your meatballs, your braciole, and you let them cook for hours in the tomato, real slow, real slow. You gotta stir, you gotta taste, you can't be in a hurry. When the whole family sat down at the table, that smell... it was more than a meal, it was who we were.
Ingredients (period version)
- Canned tomatoes and tomato paste — several cans (sauce base)
- Ground beef and pork for meatballs — a good amount (meat)
- Italian fennel sausages — a few (festive meat)
- Beef slice for braciole, stuffed with garlic, parsley, pecorino — one piece (centerpiece)
- Garlic, basil, parsley — generously (herbs)
- Stale bread and egg to bind meatballs — a little (binder)
- Pecorino romano — to taste (salty umami)
Ingredients
- Crushed tomatoes — 1.2 kg (sauce base)
- Tomato paste — 2 tbsp (depth)
- Ground beef + ground pork — 250 g + 250 g (meatballs)
- Italian sausages — 4 pieces (festive meat)
- Thin beef slice (for braciole) — 1 large slice (centerpiece)
- Garlic, flat-leaf parsley, basil — generously (herbs)
- Breadcrumbs + 1 egg — 60 g + 1 (meatball binder)
- Grated pecorino romano — 80 g (salty umami)
- Pasta (rigatoni or spaghetti) — 500 g (primo)
Method
- Mix ground meats, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, parsley, and pecorino; form meatballs and brown them in a pan.
- Stuff the beef slice with garlic, parsley, and pecorino, roll and tie it (braciole), then sear it with the sausages.
- In a large pot, sauté garlic, add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.
- Submerge all meats in the sauce and simmer on very low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring regularly.
- Cook pasta al dente, toss with a little sauce as a primo; then serve the meats as a secondo, with grated pecorino.
How it was made : The long low-temperature simmer was the technique of Sicilian immigrants: it tenderized cheap cuts of meat and concentrated the sauce. The pot stayed on the stove all morning while the family went to Mass.
The contemporary twist : Serve the braciole sliced into spiral rounds on a bed of saucy sauce, movie-kitchen style, with a final shower of fresh basil.
Al Pacino · Charactorium
