Spaghetti Gravy........

Traditionally when we made spaghetti gravy, we would start with bushels of tomatoes. It was my job to wash them all.....all 13-20 bushels of them! Someone would quarter them and they would be squashed by hand and put on the stove to stew a bit. When dad decided that they were soft enough, the pot would be brought over to the table and the steaming pot would be ladled into the grinder. Originally there was one poor person who would hand crank the machine to watch the juice and pulp go into one vat and the skins and seeds would fall into a garbage can. Men being men over time found a way to add 'power' to the process and plug an electric drill into the machine! By that time ONLY the OLDER men could play with the tool. Harrumph.....I wanted to play too!

The juice and pulp would be cooked down to a thicker substance. Time would be spent scraping the foam from the top, stirring the tomatoes from the bottom up to avoid burning. It would take hours. Once the mixture was perfect, it would be poured into ice cream containers (one reason to buy 5 get 1 free from Newport Creamery!). When the containers had cooled down, the lids would go on and the hard work would be in the deep freezer. Every Sunday 2 containers would be thawed and cooked to perfection.

We would start with some oil, garlic and red crushed pepper. Hearing the sizzle still brings back the memories. The scent of the garlic and pepper sizzling in the pot was heaven. Then the frozen chunk of tomatoes would be put in the big pot with a little water. The cooking began. Occasionally stirring until the tomato sauce was thawed seemed to take forever but worth the wait. A variety of seasonings would be added. Start with parsley flakes, followed by oregano, finishing with basil. Minced onions sprinkled in to finish with a good handful of sugar (to cut the acid) and a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. This would simmer all day.

The next step would be to cook the meat. Meatballs, Italian sausage, chicken or pork roast. There was always some combination of the meats in the gravy. The gravy would simmer most of the day on Saturday to return to the stove Sunday morning on a very low heat to get ready for lunch.

Sunday after church, the neighbor kids and I would walk to the bakery to get bread for their dinner. We would have to get 2 loaves....one to eat on the way home and one for the meal. The heel of the bread was always fought over and Mrs. Lombardi would chuckle to see the heels of the bread gone! Uncle John would go to Crugnale Bakery to get the best Italian bread ever. It had the perfect crust with a delicate and soft white center. Anticipating that arriving home, one of my jobs was to grate the cheese. Grocery shopping each week included a good chunk of Parmesan cheese. I would pull the wax paper out and cut a nice piece that would fit the grater. This was not a box grater...it was a long grater. It resembled the shape of spiced ham. I would run the cheese over the grater, taking time to dump the cheese in a bowl, peering to see is it was going to be enough for dinner and maybe some leftovers for supper.

Sunday was for visiting. There was my grandfather and uncle we lived with. There were my parents and 2 brothers along with myself. That was the start. My dad's sister and husband (and later their children) would join us for dinner. This meant a large salad needed to be made. Usually 1.5 heads of lettuce, 3 or 4 nice tomatoes, and a cucumber quartered and sliced made up the salad. Drizzle with oil and vinegar and it was ready to go. The bread would be sliced and put in a basket; the macaroni boiled and tossed with the delicious gravy. The meat was pulled from the pot, placed in a bowl and everything was brought to the table. "Dinner's ready"


Spaghetti Gravy.....when you can't start with fresh tomatoes, this is a great substitute!

3-4 big cans of pureed or crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2-3 Tbs oil (vegetable or olive)
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
Red crushed pepper to your liking
oregano
parsley
basil
minced onions
Parmesan cheese
Red wine of your choice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat a big pot and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and red pepper to the pan. Stir so that it does not burn but becomes fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes, some water (fill each of the cans with a bit to swirl around and get all the remains from the can) and the tomato paste. Sprinkle in some oregano and basil. Add a good handful of parsley. Stir. Add the minced onion (another good amount...judge to your taste, not more than a handful). Once the mixture starts to blend and is warm through, add a handful of sugar to help cut the acid. Stir well and then add about 1 cup of Parmesan cheese. Stir again. Lastly add a good glug or two of red wine to the pot. Stir again.

Let the pot sit on the stove on the lowest heat possible. It is a slow simmer we are looking for. Once the meats are cooked, place them in the pot and continue the simmer. After about 4-5 hours it can be turned off and put on a cold burner with a lid. Keep cool until ready to start the simmer again in the morning....it should be ready by noon!!