Sunday Sauce With Sausage And Braciole Recipes

SUNDAY SAUCE WITH BRACIOLE, MEATBALLS, AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Make the sauce:
• Purée onions and garlic in a food processor until very finely chopped.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high. Cook onion mixture and 1/2 tsp. salt, stirring often, until liquid is evaporated and bits on bottom of pot are beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes. Add tomato paste, oregano, and red pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until slightly darker in color, about 2 minutes more. Add 1/2 cup water and cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Add tomatoes and their juices and 1 cup water; stir to combine. Stir in basil, season with pepper and remaining 1 tsp. salt, and bring to a simmer. Keep warm, stirring occasionally, until ready to use.
• Make the breadcrumb mixture:
• Combine cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, and garlic in a medium bowl.
• Prepare the braciole:
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Lay beef flat on a work surface; season with 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup breadcrumb mixture. Working one at a time and starting at the short end, roll up beef, then tie in a few places with butcher's twine to secure. Season braciole with remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in batches and adding remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet as needed, cook braciole, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch.
• Transfer braciole to pot with sauce, cover, and bake 1 1/2 hours. Wipe out skillet and reserve.
• Prepare the meatballs and sausage:
• Mix ground beef, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and remaining 1 1/4 cups breadcrumb mixture with a fork in a medium bowl. Shape into 12 (1 1/2") balls.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in reserved skillet. Working in batches, cook meatballs, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch; transfer to a plate. Working in batches and adding remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet as needed, cook sausages, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to plate.
• After braciole has baked 1 1/2 hours, using tongs, gently lower meatballs and sausages into sauce. Cover pot and continue to bake until braciole is very tender and meatballs and sausages are cooked through, 25-30 minutes more.
• To serve:
• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Transfer sausages, meatballs, and braciole to a platter; remove strings from braciole. Spoon some warm sauce over.
• Drain pasta and toss with as little or as much sauce as you like. Serve topped with Parmesan.
• Do Ahead
• Sauce can be made 3 days ahead; cover and chill, or freeze up to 6 months. Braciole, meatballs, and sausages can be made 3 days ahead; submerge in sauce, cover, and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.

SUNDAY GRAVY WITH BEEF OR PORK BRACIOLA AND ANNA AND FRANKIE'S MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Braciola: With meat cleaver or any heavy kitchen utensil, pound the meat slices between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Rub each piece of meat with the garlic clove. Sprinkle each slice of meat with and equal amount of cheese and parsley. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
• Roll the meat up tightly like a cigar, and tie with butcher's twine to keep meat rolled while cooking. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the meat rolls and fry for about 6 minutes or until evenly browned. Reserve meat for gravy.
• Meatballs: Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Add eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands, blend ingredients. Add bread crumbs to mixture. Slowly add water, 1 cup at a time, until mixture is moist.
• Shape meat mixture into balls, approximately 2 1/2 to 3-inch balls.
• In a large skillet, heat oil. The oil should be very hot, but not smoking. Place the meatballs in pan, and fry in batches. When the bottom half of meatball is browned and slightly crispy, turn over and cook top half. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
• Sunday Gravy: In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and toss to coat with oil. Cook meat a few pieces at a time, about 5 minutes, until nicely browned on all sides. Remove meat from pan and set aside. When garlic cloves have browned, remove and discard them.
• Combine tomato paste and water and stir into oil. Stirring constantly, cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juice, raise heat, and bring to a boil. Using a tomato can, measure 2 cans of cold water, add to pan, and return to a boil.
• Return beef and pork to the sauce, and add salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Lower heat and partially cover pan. Cook for approximately 2 hours stirring occasionally until meat is almost falling apart and sauce is thick.
• One hour before sauce is ready, add the beef or pork braciola and sausage. Add the meatballs at the same time.
• To serve: Remove meat from sauce. Serve sauce over pasta, and the meats on a separate platter.

BRACIOLA AND SAUSAGE SUNDAY GRAVY

Steps:

• Sprinkle the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine half of the cheese, the breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup parsley, pine nuts, lemon zest, salami, minced garlic and the finely chopped chile pepper. Top the steaks, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll and tie the meat.
• Heat about 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a pot over medium-high heat. When the oil smokes, add the meat bundles and brown. Remove the meat bundles, then add the sausages and cook until brown, then remove. Add about 1 tablespoon of EVOO and reduce the heat to medium, then stir in the fennel seeds and cook for 15 seconds. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, then add the tomatoes, bay leaf, carrots, celery and halved onion. Break up the tomatoes, and add the passata, then stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Slide the meat and sausages into the sauce and bring to a bubble, reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
• In a skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, then add the sliced onions, cubanelles, red bell peppers and sliced chile pepper, and cook to soften, stirring frequently, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the stock, the remaining 1/4 cup parsley, tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes more.
• For a make-ahead meal, cool the sauce and meat and refrigerate. Reheat over a medium-low flame on the stovetop until warmed through. Store the onions and peppers separately and reheat over medium-low heat in small skillet.
• To serve, bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water and cook the spaghetti to al dente.
• Place the meat and sausages on a serving platter. Remove the onions, carrots, celery and bay leaf.
• Add about 1 cup of the starchy cooking water to the sauce, then put half of the sauce in a gravy boat. Melt the butter into the remaining sauce and toss with the pasta and cheese. Serve the pasta alongside the meat roll and sausage. Top the pasta and meat with more sauce and cheese, and serve the peppers and onions on top of the sausage.

SPINACH STUFFED BRACIOLE IN A SUNDAY SAUCE WITH PAPPARDELLE

Steps:

• For the braciole: Defrost, drain, and wring the frozen organic spinach dry in a clean kitchen towel and separate with your fingertips while adding to a mixing bowl. Season the spinach with salt, black pepper, and a little nutmeg. Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, currants, pine nuts, finely chopped garlic, and cheese to the bowl and gently combine. Season the meat with salt and pepper and arrange each steak with one of the narrow ends near you. Divide the filling evenly among the meat slices. Scatter the filling over the meat leaving a 1/2-inch edge or border on the sides. Fold the edge over the filling and tuck in the edges as you roll each bundle to secure the filling. Wrap and roll the remaining bundles and secure with kitchen twine to cover the ends and middle, like wrapping a package.
• Heat a large Dutch oven with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil a couple of turns of the pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meat bundles 6 to 8 minutes to evenly caramelize the meat all over.
• For the sauce: Remove the bundles from the pan and add 1 tablespoon more olive oil, give a turn of the pan to coat. Add the chopped carrots, onions, sliced garlic, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Let the vegetables cook 5 minutes to soften, then stir in the chopped rosemary and sage for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir to develop the fragrance, then add the white wine and scrape up the pan drippings. Stir in the chicken stock and tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon or potato masher. Bring the sauce to a bubble, add the meat back to the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook 2 hours more, stirring occasionally.
• After 2 hours, brown the sausages in a frying pan with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan. Add the browned links to the sauce and gently submerge them, nestling them in with the meat bundles. Simmer the mixture 30 minutes more to cook the sausages through and combine their flavor into the sauce.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Salt the water and cook the pasta to al dente. Reserve a cup of starchy cooking liquid just before draining.
• Remove the meat bundles to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Remove the sausages to a separate plate to cool.
• Drain the pasta and return to a hot pot. Add 1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces, and half of the sauce, toss to combine, adding a little starchy cooking water to make it all come together for you.
• Cut the string from the meat and serve the meat dotted with more sauce and sprinkled with fresh parsley on large dinner plates with hot pappardelle pasta topped with fresh basil and some shaved Parm alongside.
• Cook's Note: Reserve the sausages and any remaining spoonfuls of sauce for a make-ahead meal later in the week. Open Faced Sausage, 3 Pepper and Onion Sandwiches with Provolone, recipe follows.
• Special equipment: Kitchen twine .
• To make sandwiches:
• If you are cooking a make-ahead meal with bread that will not be used for a couple of days, place it in the freezer in an airtight bag or wrap well. Unwrap to defrost at room temperature and then crust in a warm oven.
• Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, cubanelle peppers, chile pepper, and garlic to tender-crisp, 5 minutes more.
• Cook's Note: Do not salt the onions and peppers as it will draw more liquids out and we are undercooking a bit for a make-ahead meal.
• Cool and store the mushroom mixture. To reheat the mushroom mixture: Add a splash of stock or water over medium heat and season with salt and pepper.
• To reheat the sausages: Add a splash of stock or water to the sausages to loosen the sauce. Add a ladle of sauce to the mushroom pan.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Split the bread horizontally then halve into 4 large pieces. Arrange the bread pieces on cooling racks set over baking sheets to allow the heat to circulate all around the bread. Halve the sausages lengthwise. Dot the bread with sauce, top with the sausages cut-side-down, dot with more sauce and top with peppers and cheese. Bake the bread 12 to 15 minutes, or until melted and brown at the edges. Garnish with parsley and serve.