On Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:40:39 -0500, Janet Wilder >
wrote:

snip
>My Italian neighbor who taught me to make "gravy" would put a piece of
>chicken breast in the gravy, pork neck bones (the flavor is wonderful),
>meatballs and sausages. Another neighbor taught me to make bracciole
>(pronounced bra-jole) and put that in the gravy.
>
>Another Italian chef taught me about adding peeled and chopped carrots
>which make the gravy sweet. After cooking so long, they melt into the
>sauce and you can't find them.
>
>The gravy started with olive oil in a large pot. I would open six cans
>of tomato paste and "fry" the paste off in the olive oil. Then came 6
>big cans of Italian tomatoes, squashed by hand and seeds removed.
>Garlic,red pepper, basil and lots of parsley.
>
>Towards the end of cooking (usually 6 hours where it does not boil, but
>you can see the water is evaporating), I'd grate in some Romano and
>Parmesan and add oregano. Adding oregano early in the cooking makes the
>sauce bitter.

Thanks a lot for the description, it's very helpful. I've got the
picture now and will work at it this winter.
Janet US