italian-american-food

What is Red Sauce – author Daniel Bellino Explains

“RED SAUCE”

What is Red Sauce? A question often asked. Well, there is no one sauce that is Red Sauce. When using the term “Red Sauce,” you are talking about any one of several different Italian Sauce (Italian-American), made with Tomatoes, and mostly served on and of 100 types of different pastas (Maccheroni), but not only on Maccheroni.

Red Sauce can be a Tomato Sauce, without any meat in it, just tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil, and maybe oregano, or not. Then the other Sauce that falls into the category known as “Red Sauce,” is what is known as Sunday Sauce, Gravy, “Gravy,” or simply SAUCE. These are all Red Sauce’s. These Red Sauce’s that have meat in them might be made with tomatoes of course that have Sausages, Meatballs, and Braciole, and other meats according to what the person cooking it likes in his Sunday Sauce (Sunday Gravy, Gravy). For instance, my favorite way of making Sunday Sauce, is with Sausages, Meatballs, and Pork Spare Ribs slowly cooked in the sauce. But I don’t always make it this way, I with it up according to my mood. Sometimes I make it with Sausages, Meatballs, & Pork Ribs, while other times I might replace the Meatballs with Chicken Thighs and make my “Sauce” with Sausages, Ribs, & Chicken Thighs. Yes, I said “Chicken thighs which taste great, slowly cooked in the Sauce. All of these sauces mention, are Red Sauces.

When making the a Sunday Sauce, I make enough to last at least 3 days, and we get a number of meals out of the one sauce. You put the time in to make the sauce, you should make it last. It take about the same time to make a small pot of sauce as it does to make one two or three times larger. It doesn’t make sense to me to make a small pot of sauce, that I will only get 1 or two meals from. I want to get a minimum of 4 meals or more out of the one pot of sauce. For example, when I make a sauce that has meatballs in it, I always want a good amount of meatballs in the sauce. We eat the Maccheroni with all the meats, the Sausages, Ribs, & Meatballs on Sunday. Monday rolls around, which is what I (Daniel Bellino Zwicke) have coined years ago, “Meatball Parm Mondays” which I wrote about in my book Sunday Sauce, way back in 2013. So, “Meatball Parm Mondays?” We Italian (Italian-American) men love our Meatball Parm Sandwiches. We make the Sunday Sauce on Sunday (sometimes Saturday), and we eat it with Maccheroni (short pasta) on Sunday. When Monday rolls around, we take the leftover Meatballs from the previous days Sunday Sauce, and we make Meatball Sandwiches for Monday’s lunch or dinner, and we are happy campers. On Tuesday, whatever is left of the Sunday Sauce, we’ll cook up some Maccheroni, and eat it with whatever is leftover from the sauce made on Sunday. Maybe it’s just tomato sauce which is left, which we dress the Maccheroni with. Maybe there’s a little meat left which is thrown on as well. Sometimes I’ll put quite a good amount of Sausages in the Sauce when I make it on Sunday, and if any sausages are left in the sauce come Tuesday, I might make a Sausage Sandwich. You see, you want to get a lot out of that one Sauce that you make on Sunday. Take my advice, and do it.

Red Sauce (Tomato Sauce) is the backbone of Italian-American cooking, which many dishes are made with tomato sauce. You use Red Sauce to make dishes like: Eggplant Parmigiana, Chicken Parm, Lasagna, Baked Maccheroni, Eggplant Rolatini, baked Ziti, and more.

Oh, by the way. Some Italians use the term Red Sauce, but it is more of a non Italian-American thing than an Italian-American thing. Americans who are not of Italian heritage, are the people who use this term (Red Sauce) most. Some Italian-Americans use the term, but when talking about a sauce, Italian-Americans are more prone to using the actual name of the sauce, saying, Marinara or Marinara Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Sunday Sauce, “Gravy,” or Sunday Sauce, than using the term “Red Sauce,” which is used more by non-Italian.

The there is the great debate, on Sunday Sauce, Sauce, Gravy, and Sunday Sauce, which are all sauces made with various meats that are slowly cooked with tomatoes. Many call it Sunday Sauce, and some call it Gravy. It all depends on what your family comes from where your origins are in Italy, and what Italian Enclave you live in in America, whether in Brooklyn, Jersey, Boston, Baltimore, or New York. What do you call it? Don’t get in a tiff over it. The most important thing to remember, is the taste of your Sunday Sauce, and the people you share it with. The Sauce must be tasty. That goes without saying. Enjoy!

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

SUNDAY SAUCE

LEARN HOW to MAKE “RED SAUCE”

All DIFFERENT KINDS !!!

AMAZON.com

Raos Meatballs Recipe

RAO’S Famous MEATBALLS

If you’re looking for a hot and cozy fall recipe, look no further than Rao’s. Known for its exclusivity and esteemed reputation, New York City’s Rao’s restaurant has been serving up authentic Italian food since 1896.

Here, Dino Gatto, the Executive Chef of New York City’s Rao’s Restaurant, shares his tips for how to make the juiciest meatballs:

For mouthwatering meatballs it’s important to only use the freshest and best quality products.

In this recipe, you will find that we add the water, cheese and breadcrumbs in layers, which allows the breadcrumbs to be separate from the water. If you add the water, then breadcrumbs … by the time you get started to mix, the water will be absorbed into the bread and will be hard to mix and dry, which also makes it hard to roll.

The longer the meatballs simmer in the sauce, the softer they will be inside and also have the crust from them being fried.

“RAO’S”

East Harlem

New York City

RAOS MEATBALL Recipe :

Ingredients :

1 pound Ground Beef

1/2 pound Ground Veal

1/2 pound Ground Pork

2 Eggs (beaten)

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian Parsley

1 teaspoon each Sea Salt & ground Black Pepper

1 Garlic clove, peeled and minced fine

2 cups fresh Breadcrumbs

1 cup water

1 cup Olive Oil

1 Garlic clove, mashed

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the Beef, Veal, Pork, Parmesan, parsley, salt & black pepper, minced garlic, and mix together using your hands (don’t overmix).

2. Add the bread breadcrumbs to the meat, and combine. Slowly add the water a little at a time as you mix with your hands.

3. Shape the mixture into 3″ Meatballs.

4. Add the Olive Oil to a large frying pan with the mashed Garlic. Cook the Garlic until it is lightly browned. Remove the garlic and discard.

5. Fry the Meatballs in batches, browning on all sides.

6. Frying the Meatballs in batches, remove the browned Meatballs, and set aside on a plate.

7. Once all the Meatballs have browned, cook the Meatballs in Tomato Sauce for 15 – 20 minutes, at a slow simmer.

Serve with Spaghetti or other Pasta, or make a Nice Meatball Sandwich.

Enjoy !

The WORLD’S BEST SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO