Sunday Sauce
Big nor’easter this weekend, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice Sunday Sauce. What is a Sunday Sauce, you may ask? A Sunday Sauce, also known in Italian as a ragù, is a slow-cooked, meat-based sauce made by Italian families. Typically made with whole cuts of meat that are then served separately with pasta on the side dressed with sauce from the pot, there are exceptions to this serving method, such as Ragù alla Bolognese. I have heard rumors that some Italian-American families also call it a gravy. I personally never knew anyone who called it that, but who cares what it’s called, if you invite me over for “Sunday Gravy,” I will be there!
What kind of meat should you put in a Sunday Sauce? I went simple with this one: beef short ribs and sweet Italian sausage. But different families use different meats. You could add pork ribs, meatballs, or a big piece of chuck. Different families have their own tradition, and it’s really a matter of preference. Beef Braciole counts as a Sunday Sauce in my book.
For the technique, I like to brown the meats in batches in the pot and set them aside. Next, I add in the soffritto (finely chopped onion, carrots, and celery) and cook until tender. Some people also call this the trinity. Deglaze the pan with some red wine to loosen up all those tasty caramelized bits from the pan. Then add your crushed tomatoes or tomato passata and seasonings, bring it to a simmer, and add the meats back in. Let it cook low and slow for hours until the aroma fills the house and the big cuts of meat are tender. As with the meats, different people season it differently. I am happy with the flavor built from rendering the guanciale, the soffritto, salt, and pepper (the sausage has seasoning that helps flavor the sauce, too). Some people add bay leaves, and you could add fresh basil, just be sure to add the basil at the very end before saucing the pasta.
Sunday Sauce
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 pounds beef short ribs
- 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
- 1/8 pound of guanciale or pancetta, diced
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 28oz cans good Italian whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pound of mezzi rigatoni
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then brown the short ribs and sausage on all sides and transfer to a plate. Work in batches, do not crowd the pan.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the pancetta or guanciale, cooking until fat renders. 3-5 minutes.
- Add the carrots, onion and celery and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the red wine and cook scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan, until reduced by half.
- In a bowl crush the tomatoes coarsely by hand and add to the pot. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Add about 1 cup of water to the bowl, swirl around to get all of the leftover tomato and pour into pan.
- Add salt & pepper to taste. Let sauce come to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
- Let sauce simmer until meat on the short ribs is tender, 3-4 hours. Transfer meats to a serving platter and keep warm. Keep the sauce simmering while cooking the pasta in next step.
- Bring a pot of liberally salted water to a boil and add mezzi rigatoni. Cook until al dente. Strain and add back to pot. Add enough sauce to the pasta to coat it well, and mix it up.
- Transfer pasta to serving plates and top both the pasta and the platter of meats with a little more sauce (don’t overdo it). You can serve the pasta first, followed by the meats, with some potatoes or vegetables as a side. Or you can serve it all together at once, family style.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 4 hours
Make Ahead, Storage, and Reheating
- Make ahead: Sauces like this actually taste better after sitting overnight in the fridge as the flavors deepen. Make the sauce and meats a day ahead, let them cool completely, and refrigerate.
- Storage: Store sauce and meats together in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Warm the sauce and meats gently in a saucepan over low heat until hot throughout, adding a splash of water if it has thickened up too much. I recommend cooking fresh pasta right before serving, don’t store or freeze leftover cooked pasta in the sauce.
