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Artie Spiegel's Italian Gravy



Brown a pound of lean ground round (or your choice of chopped meat) drain
the fat.  Cut up and brown a pound of spicy Italian sausage. Drain the fat.
Dice a medium to large onion, a green pepper, half a pound of mushrooms.
Saute in some olive oil. Season, to taste with salt and black pepper, and
garlic. You can use fresh cloves or powdered.  Remember, this is Italian
food, so be generous with the garlic.  Open a large can of tomato puree and
a large can of crushed tomatoes and pour them into a large stewing pot. (I
like Progresso for this, but there are plenty of other brands.) Add in your
cooked meats and saute'd veggies.  Add more garlic, salt and pepper to
taste. Sprinkle in a heaping teaspoon of oregano (more if you like it) and a
bay leaf or two (no more than 2 of the bay leaves). Open a small can of
tomato paste and add to the mix.  If you like, add a cup of wine that you
like to the brew (red, white, zinfandel, whatever you like).  Stir it all
together gently.  If the sauce is too bitter for you, you can add a
tablespoon of sugar (that's cheating) or you can add sweet basil. The sugar
or the basil will accomplish the same thing; it cuts the acid in the sauce.
The sugar is quicker and it's easy to add a little more.  Let the whole
thing cook over a low heat for an hour. It doesn't have to cook long because
you already cooked the meats before you put them into the mix.  If you're
not in a hurry, after it has cooked together for an hour or so, on a LOW
heat, take it off the stove. Let it cool and refrigerate it. *The sauce
always tastes better the next day*.  If you're in a hurry, you can
substitute a couple of jars of Emeril Legasse's sauce in a jar for the
puree/crushed tomatoes and paste.  The flavor is in the meat and the veggies
and the love makes it all deeelicious.



This sauce, or gravy as Italian's call it is great on spaghetti (you can
make meatballs, too) or it can be the base for lasagna or baked ziti or a
half a dozen other Italian dishes.





*For the meatballs*:



Take a pound of lean ground meat (turkey is great for this dish and the
sauce, too and it is very low in fat.  You don't need to use pork sausage
either. You can use turkey sausage, Italian style, which they sell at
Publix).  You can also use Jennie-O's which is GF. Their only flavoring is
from the herb, rosemary.


Put the meat in a mixing bowl. Break an egg and beat it in a cup. Pour the
egg into the meat. Sprinkle generously with powdered garlic.  Add a half of
a cup of Italian or seasoned breadcrumbs. Any brand will do, but I like
Progresso for this.  It's really got an Italian flavor like my best friend's
mother used to use. (Really, these are her recipes that I have been making
for over 30 years.) Moosh the meat, the egg, the garlic and the bread crumbs
together so the mixture looks uniform. Form meatballs and brown them in a
frying pan in a little olive oil.  If you have a really good no-stick pan,
you don't need much oil.  You can even use Pam, which has very little
fat.  Brown
the meatballs all the way around and dump them into the sauce.  Want more
meatballs, start with more ground meat.  You can easily double this recipe
and put the sauce or meatballs away in the freezer for other occasions.

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