Tasty Tuesday

When I lived back East, about once a month I went to my friend Steve’s family’s house for Sunday dinner.  As a big Italian family who lived in Federal Hill in Providence, they had food, food, and more food.  I miss those all day affairs and that delicious Sunday gravy.   This weekend, I was missing my East Coast friends and decided to make my own version of Sunday gravy.  It’s a basic tomato sauce with sausage (“real” gravy has a lot of other meats too like meatballs and braciola), but I’ve added some red pepper flakes to give it a kick.  It’s not super spicy, just tasty.

Spicy Tomato Sauce with Sausage
Ingredients
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 small red onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can whole  tomatoes, removed from liquid, squished
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup red wine (I love cooking with wine)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 pound package dry pasta (I use ziti)
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

Directions
1.  Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned.
2.  Stir in the red onion and garlic into the sausage, and cook until onion is tender.
3.  Add the mashed whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and red wine.
4.  Season with basil, parsley, oregano, red pepper, black pepper, and salt.
5.  Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. 
6.  Serve over cooked pasta with grated cheese

 
This recipe makes about 8 servings.