September 30, 2010

Italian Sunday Gravy

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Italian Sunday Gravy


I don't watch much TV these days but when I do, it's some cooking show or contest. I always catch just the last part of Cook's Country episode on Italian Sunday gravy. I got curious as to why it's called gravy and not tomato sauce. After a lot of web searching I found one recipe that has pigs feet and immediately forgot why I was searching for it. Of course, with the pigs feet how can I resist so I made a very small quantity combining the Cook's Country version and the recipe from one of Serious Eats readers. This is one delicious tomato sauce and I love the soft gelatinous skin and meat of the pigs feet. One serving with some, okay lots of meat, over a cup of whole grain penne for lunch was so filling I had to skip dinner.

Italian Sunday Gravy
meat
1 pound pigs feet or skin
1 piece each sweet and hot Italian sausage
12 pieces medium-size homemade Italian meatballs
2 pieces boneless beef short ribs
3 small bracciole, to make: sprinkle thinly sliced beef with chopped garlic, grated Parmesan, and pine nuts, top with one or 2 pieces of prosciutto, roll tightly, and tie with kitchen strings.
olive oil for browning meat

tomato sauce
32 ounces canned or fresh diced tomatoes and juices
12 ounces tomato paste
1 clove roasted garlic
1 large Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped and divided
¼ cup snipped fresh basil
a few sprigs Italian parsley
sea salt, if needed
  • In a medium sauce pan, place the pigs feet, add water to cover and let boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the feet well. Discard the boiling water. Transfer into a large stainless steel pot with 2 cups of water. Turn the heat to medium.
  • Blend the diced tomatoes, paste, garlic, and half of onion in a blender until smooth and add to the pot.
  • In a skillet, with a little olive oil, sautee the rest of the onion until soft and golden; add to the pot. In the same skillet heat a tablespoon of olive oil and [separately] brown the beef short ribs, sausages, bracciola, and meatballs and add to the pot. Add the chopped basil and sprigs of parsley. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 2 to 2½ hours until pigs feet are very tender, checking for seasoning halfway through and adjust to taste.
  • Remove the parsley sprigs and discard. Serve the gravy with cooked ziti or penne alone or with some of the meat on top.

Italian Sunday Gravy
I forgot to brown the bracciole

Italian Sunday Gravy and Meat on Penne
I assure you there's lots of penne underneath the pile of meat and gravy

7 comments:

Midge said...

This looks incredibly rich and so satisfying!

Sidney said...

Looks good... but did you wash the pig's feet? ;-)

Oggi said...

Midge, oh it's really satisfying.:)

Sidney, I gave them a pedicure.:)

Unknown said...

Hmmmm that looks so good.

Rosemary & Garlic said...

Oggi, once again you find yourself responding to the call of the pig!

Oggi said...

Joy, masarap din with rice.:)

Anne Marie, LOL. Like a moth to the flame.

Anonymous said...

Our family were Calabria Italy and we made pigs feet gravy every Sunday and Holidays. We couldn’t get enough of it. The pigs feet give gravy a rich flavor you can’t get from anything else! Sooooo good!!!

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