North End Sunday Gravy

This recipe takes some time but makes a delicious gravy that would make your Italian grandmother proud. The dried mint is not 'minty' at all but rather lends a sweetly herbal flavor to the sauce. You can leave out the lamb shank, but it is the secret ingredient that makes the sauce extra delicious. Many people prefer San Marzano® tomatoes, but they are expensive and I think our own domestic tomatoes actually make a better sauce.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 5 hr
• Total Time: 5 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 527 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound ground beef
• ¼ pound ground pork
• ½ cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 pinch dried basil, or to taste
• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1 lamb shank
• 7 cups water, or as needed
• 2 pinches dried basil
• 2 pork neck bones
• 1 country-style pork rib
• 1 (8 ounce) beef chuck in 1 piece
• 1 beef rib, or more to taste
• 1 pinch dried mint, or to taste
• 2 pinches dried mint
• 2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tablespoon white sugar, or to taste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Cook neck bones, country-style pork rib, beef chuck, beef rib, and lamb shank in hot oil, turning regularly, until browned on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove all the meat to a large bowl.

Step 2

Pour another 1/4 cup olive oil into the stockpot and heat over medium heat; stir a pinch of basil, a pinch of mint, and a pinch of red pepper flakes into the oil. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir the tomato paste into the onion mixture until incorporated. Pour crushed tomatoes and water into the mixture and bring to a low boil. Add an additional 2 pinches each of basil, mint, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and black pepper.

Step 3

Return the browned meats to the tomato mixture; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the neck bones and discard.

Step 4

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Crumble Italian sausage into the skillet; cook and stir until crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard any excess grease. Stir sausage into the tomato sauce with sugar. Return the sauce to a simmer and cook another 1 1/2 hours.

Step 5

Mix ground beef, ground pork, eggs, milk, Italian bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and garlic with your hands in a large bowl until evenly mixed; shape into 2-inch balls.

Step 6

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the meat balls in hot oil until evenly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 7

Add meatballs to the tomato sauce. Cook at a simmer for 1 hour, adding water as needed to keep sauce from becoming too thick. Remove stockpot from heat; let sit 2 to 3 minutes. Skim and discard any fat from the top of the sauce.