A Repost of My 2010 Christmas Gift to You

I posted this last year for Christmas and got some really awesome responses from it...mostly from my friends that I know in person but also some really good blog comments.  So...I am RE-gifting it this year because I am a cheap bitch!!

If any of you DID try it and it came out different than you hoped, please let me know!  Hell, let me know if it came out good too!!  It is hard for me to put measurements on recipes for people because I don't measure anything when I cook...I eyeball it which is why I can't bake for shit...unless it is a lasagna!  I mean, I COULD tell you, "Add just enough pepper so that your husband will still like it and your son will be completely annoyed and you feel like you MIGHT sneeze but you don't actually."  But I am not sure how the sauce would taste because that amount of pepper may be different for you than it is for me.  Especially if you have a daughter instead of a son, no kids, or you are not married.

At any rate, enjoy and please let me know how it comes out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Not to brag much or anything but I do make the best sauce in the world. Just sayin'. So, for Christmas, I am sharing my recipe with you. I hope you enjoy it!

You will need:

1 lb. ground beef (I use 90% lean. 95% makes the meatballs too tough).
1 lb. mild Italian pork sausage
1 lb. pork
Extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 eggs
about a cup of seasoned bread crumbs
one small yellow onion
Tablespoon of Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
crushed red pepper
2 bay leaves
about 1/4 cup of grated Romano cheese
about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
5 large cans of tomato sauce (not jars of premade sauce like Prego...just plain sauce).
1 can of tomato paste

Mix Meatballs:

Mix together the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, cheese and some red and black pepper in a large bowl.
Form into balls about the size of your palm

Brown All Meat:

Put some olive oil in a large frying pan and add the cut fresh garlic and diced onion. Allow it to brown a little but don't burn the garlic or it will get bitter.
Add meatballs. Gently turn them with a spoon when brown to brown all sides. Set aside on a plate and brown the sausage and cut up pork (remove as much fat from pork as possible).

Deglaze the frying pan:

Most important for yummy sauce!!!
Add a few tablespoons of water to the frying pan when you are done browning the meat. Cook on high until some of the water evaporates and all the yummy stuff is not stuck to the bottom of the pan anymore.

Sauce:

Put the sauce, paste, Italian seasonings, some black pepper, and the bay leaves in a large sauce pan. Add the meat to the sauce once it is brown and the meatballs have cooled a bit. Add the contents of the frying pan (after deglazing the pan). Cook on low with the lid on sideways or vented if you have a vent on your lid. Cook for at least 2 hours on low, stirring often. (It is done when you can cut the sausage with the side of a fork). About an hour into cooking the sauce, add the baking powder and stir lightly. The sauce will bubble and turn brownish on top. It is supposed to do that! This gets some of the acid out of the sauce without having to use sugar which makes the sauce too sweet in my opinion!

Do not salt the sauce while cooking!!! The cheese in the meatballs, the sausage, pork and baking soda will all add salt to the sauce.

Note: Sauce always tastes better reheated so if you have time, cook it a day before you will be eating it then reheat it on low.

Enjoy!!!