Grandma's Old Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Call it sauce or gravy, Grandma's old Italian spaghetti sauce with meatballs is an old-school recipe with pork neck bones, meatballs, and pig's feet.

• Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 5 hr 30 mins
• Total Time: 7 hr
• Calories: 599 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound ground pork
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 pig's feet
• 2 (28 ounce) cans tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound ground veal
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 pound pork neck bones
• 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 (16 ounce) loaf fresh Italian bread, torn into 2-inch pieces
• 1.5 cups water
• 0.75 teaspoon baking soda

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add 3 whole garlic cloves; cook until brown and fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove garlic cloves; set aside. Add pig's feet and pork neck bones to the saucepan; cook, turning occasionally, until meat and bones have browned, about 15 minutes.

Step 2

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, stir in basil and minced garlic; cook about 1 minute. Add meatballs, working in batches, if necessary; season with salt and black pepper. Cook on all sides until brown, about 15 minutes.

Step 3

Return garlic cloves to saucepan; stir in 1 ½ cups water and tomato paste. Bring to a boil; add tomato purée. Reduce heat to low; simmer until pig's feet are tender and mixture begins to thicken, about 3 hours, stirring often from the bottom to prevent burning. Stir in sugar, black pepper, and baking soda; simmer while preparing meatballs.

Step 4

Soak torn bread in a bowl with remaining 1 cup water; squeeze excess water from bread. Place bread in a large bowl. Add ground pork, ground veal, ground beef, and 6 beaten eggs; mix thoroughly and form into 24 meatballs about 2 ½-inches in diameter.

Step 5

Add meatballs, oil, basil, and minced garlic to sauce, gently stirring to avoid breaking up meatballs. Add 6 whole hard-boiled eggs; simmer until meatballs are cooked, sauce is thick, and flavors have blended, about 1 ½ hours.