Italian Gravy

By Golfwidow7

What makes this gravy authentic? Its fresh ingredients, Italian spices and abundance of tomatoes all work together to create a perfectly-textured and expertly flavored gravy. All it takes is some loving care and a bit of time to work its magic.

Cooking Option:
Cook a pound of pasta in ½ gallon water, just until al dente. After sauce has cooked add ¼ cup pasta water and al dente pasta. Cook until pasta is completely cooked. This allows the pasta and sauce to combine their flavors for an exceptional tasting meal.

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 1 cup red wine, + 2 tablespoons
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 beef neck bones, baby back ribs or short ribs
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 carrot, minced
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 (12 ounce) can Redpack® Tomato Paste
• 4 (28 ounce) cans Redpack® Whole Peeled Plum Tomatoes in Puree, crushed with hands
• 1 (15 ounce) can Redpack® Tomato Sauce
• 1 quart water
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 pound Italian sausage

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400o F. Place 1 cup red wine, oil, beef neck bones, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt and black pepper in a roasting pan; stir to coat.
Roast neck bones and vegetable mixture in oven until vegetables are tender, 1 hour. Stir in about 2 tablespoons red wine while scraping any brown bits of food off the bottom of the pan. Roast until vegetable are browned, about 30 minutes.
Pour vegetable mixture into a 16 quart stock pot over medium-low heat; simmer for 30 minutes. Add tomato paste, whole peeled plum tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, basil, oregano and parsley; stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce reduces, 4 to 6 hours.
Remove neck bones from sauce; scrape marrow out of bones. Add marrow to sauce and simmer until dissolved, 1 to 2 hours.
Add choice of meat to sauce during the last ½ hour of cooking.
For a smooth sauce, blend in batches until smooth. Add Italian sausage or other meat to sauce after blending.