Platings & Pairings

This Authentic Italian Sunday Gravy is what I grew up eating every week. Nana’s tomato meat sauce holds a fond place in my heart, and her recipe lives on to this day in my recipe box. It’s my most requested recipe and today I’m sharing it with you.

I grew up in a big, fun Italian family, near Buffalo, NY. We even all lived on the same neighborhood block – My mom’s parents lived next door, then my aunt & uncle, then my mom’s aunt & uncle, and on and on around the entire block, seven houses in total if I count correctly!… Two things I remember most, always having cousins next door, and always having food being transferred between houses. Leftovers here and there and that food always included such yummy Italian food made from passed down Sicilian recipes – Pasta Succo (pasta with sauce), Cannoli, Carduni, Chicken Soup… The list goes on and on. Basically – I grew up in food heaven.

The main cooks in my family were my Nana and Nanu LaMancuso (grandma and grandpa). Nana always made the Pasta Succo and the Cannolis were my Nanu’s specialty. I actually never got a true lesson on cooking these dishes and my passion for cooking didn’t really come until after I graduated college. Once in a while, my mom would ship me some of nana’s sauce – All the way from New York to Oregon…

My grandparents have both passed on now, and I’ve developed this sauce recipe over the years from my childhood memories and with tips passed on from other family members.  I’ve got to say that I think it would make Nana proud. It’s got an authentic Italian meaty flavor coming from three different types of meat – Italian sausage, pork and beef. These meats simmer in the sauce and really give it a great flavor. By the end of the cooking time, they’re falling off the bone and super tender – Meaning that you can serve the meats for dinner that night and save the “succo” (or sauce) for a pasta dinner the next, or serve the meats as a second course alongside your pasta. Either way – You’ve got an amazing Italian feast on your hands and as Nana would say “Mangia! Mangia!” (Eat! Eat!).

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