Grandma Sciarillo's Meat Sauce

This is my great-grandma's meat sauce. She had been making it since
the 1920s and my family has been making it ever since. My grandma
wrote it down around 1960. I had to scan the fragile 50-yr old paper
in my scanner to preserve the original notes on making it. Obviously,
filtered water, fresh garlic, and high-quality ingredients make a
better meat sauce for your spaghetti and your meatball subs.

Meatballs
1 lb ground beef (I use the 20% fat stuff)
1 lb pork sausage (I used Farmer John's Pork Sausage - 1 lb package)
8 oz Bread Crumbs - Italian Style package is best
2 eggs
4 crushed garlic cloves (I use a garlic press with fresh cloves)
1 tsp Hot Pepper Flakes
1 TBSP Dried Oregano

Sauce
2 6oz cans tomato paste + 32 oz water
3 28oz cans Crushed Tomato in Puree + 56oz water
3 TBSP dried Italian Seasoning Mix
2 TBSP salt
Pepper
8 crushed garlic cloves (I use a garlic press with fresh cloves)

Other
Olive Oil & + 4 chopped garlic cloves & 1 diced onion + 1 TBSP Salt
8 pork sausages (I prefer Hot&Spicy Italian Sausages)
1 10-quart stainless-steel pot

Mix the meatball ingredients, then roll out the meatballs. Video on
construction of meatballs: http://video.about.com/italianfood/H...-Meatballs.htm.
Concentrate on the part where he rolls out the meatballs with his
hands. His recipe won't make good meatballs for spaghetti - not
enough fat, so not enough meat flavor to the sauce.

Gently Saute the oil/garlic/onions/salt on low heat for 10 minutes.
Remove the garlic/onion from the oil with a slotted spoon, then use
that oil to brown the meatballs and sausages on med heat. You want it
brown/caramelized, not burnt on the outside of the meat stuff. Set
the meat aside. It will take 3 batches to brown everything in your 10-
quart pot.

In the same pot, drop in the 2 cans of tomato paste and the 32oz of
water. Boil on med for 20-30 minutes, up to 45 min if you have the
time. Use a spoon to get all the crusty bits off the bottom of the
pot (that is all flavor!) as you boil.

Next, add the 3 cans of puree and 2 cans of water. Bring to a boil,
then add in the meatballs and sausages, garlic, dried seasoning, salt
and pepper. Boil with the lid askew over the pot for an hour on med-
low heat. That is about it. Pull out the meatballs and sausage, pour
the sauce into some large jars, and you got meat sauce and meat for
2-3 nights for 4 people.

Suggested Servings: make meatball subs with garlic bread and cheese
one night, and spaghetti another night.

On May 19, 8:03*pm, " >
wrote:
> Grandma Sciarillo's Meat Sauce
>
> This is my great-grandma's meat sauce. *She had been making it since
> the 1920s and my family has been making it ever since. *My grandma
> wrote it down around 1960. *[snip]

Interesting. They had dried "Italian seasoning mix" in the 1920s?
I'll bet your great grandma had a favorite brand of tomato paste and
tomatoes in puree. Wouldn't know which it was, would you? -aem

On May 19, 8:03*pm, " >
wrote:
> Grandma Sciarillo's Meat Sauce
>
> This is my great-grandma's meat sauce. *She had been making it since
> the 1920s and my family has been making it ever since. *My grandma
> wrote it down around 1960. *I had to scan the fragile 50-yr old paper
> in my scanner to preserve the original notes on making it. *Obviously,
> filtered water, fresh garlic, and high-quality ingredients make a
> better meat sauce for your spaghetti and your meatball subs.

Filtered water makes a better meat sauce? Where do you live? Outside
of the U.S.?

Karen

On May 19, 10:46*pm, Karen > wrote:
> On May 19, 8:03*pm, " >
> wrote:
>
> > Grandma Sciarillo's Meat Sauce
>
> > This is my great-grandma's meat sauce. *She had been making it since
> > the 1920s and my family has been making it ever since. *My grandma
> > wrote it down around 1960. *I had to scan the fragile 50-yr old paper
> > in my scanner to preserve the original notes on making it. *Obviously,
> > filtered water, fresh garlic, and high-quality ingredients make a
> > better meat sauce for your spaghetti and your meatball subs.
>
> Filtered water makes a better meat sauce? Where do you live? Outside
> of the U.S.?
>
> Karen

Yes, she would dry majoram, thyme, oregano, basil, mint, chives, and
cilantro in the summer (that I know of), and her notes say she used
dried oregano/basil/majoram in her meat sauce. I don't know about
dried Italian seasoning mix. I use the mix cause Grandma uses it -
she said it was easier than making her own dried herbs. Sheesh - you
people sure are stupid picky if everything isn't explained in
detail.

My local tap water has a LOT of minerals - enough to make your glass
cloudy the first 30 seconds after you pour from the tap. I find it
messes with flavors in food and drinks. Thus, filtered water (reverse
osmosis is what the kitchen has) doesn't interfere with flavor.
Again, what a ****ing stupid picky thing to post.

These 1st 2 replys were as stupid as someone posting your spelling
mistakes. I got an email with links to other recipes - apparently
this is called 'Italian Gravy' - now that was a helpful reply. These
2 are about as helpful as the cat running between your legs as you go
up the stairs.

I have no idea what her favorite canned brand(s) were... apparently,
raising 8 children in depression-era NY meant she used whatever was
cheap or free, so I doubt it was anything fancy. I prefer San Marzano
canned tomatos, but that is a rare treat for me - $3 per can vs the on-
sale stuff for $1 per can - it is a lot more economical to use the $1
per can stuff. Same goes for the other ingredients. Fresh garlic is
no problem, but I tend to use the on-sale ground beef and generic
brand pork sausage more often than not. And since I make bread about
1x/year, I use canned bread crumbs 99% of the time that I buy on
sale. I did make my own crumbs to make the meatballs last night, but
the flavor difference is pretty minimal, so I don't do that often.

wrote:
Obviously,
> filtered water, fresh garlic, and high-quality ingredients make a
> better meat sauce for your spaghetti and your meatball subs.
>

Perfect timing. I'm making lasagna this weekend but this time I'm going
to use bottled water instead. I'm also going to try a little thyme.

On May 20, 1:27*pm, Scott > wrote:
> Perfect timing. I'm making lasagna this weekend but this time I'm going
> to use bottled water instead. I'm also going to try a little thyme.
================================================== ==
Good for you, Scott! Personally, I find things usually turn out well
if you take a little extra thyme . . .

Lynn in Fargo ;-)