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Italian Sunday Supper

5 star rating
 

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Submitted by: Lilykyte2056679

 

This generous meal contains plenty of meat and pasta. There's sweet Italian sausage, spareribs, and pork butt, along with meatballs and a pound of ziti pasta in a tomato-herb sauce that simmers for 2 hours.
 

Ingredients

  • Meatballs:
  • 3 to 4 slices firm textured bread
  • 1 pound meatloaf mix (8 oz beef, 8 oz pork)
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 oz (2/3 cup) grated Romano cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • Sauce:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 links sweet Italian sausage made with fennel
  • 1 rack large spareribs (about 3-1/2 pounds), cut between the bones
  • 1 pound pork butt, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 whole garlic cloves
  • 3 (28 oz) cans Italian whole tomatoes, with juice
  • 20 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 pound dried ziti

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Method

Place bread in a bowl and pour warm water over to moisten. Let stand until softened. Crumble meatloaf mix into a large bowl and add onion and garlic. Beat eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl and add to meat. Break up bread, squeeze water out, and add to meat. Knead the mixture with the hands until lightly and evenly blended. Mixture should be creamy and soft. If not, soak 4th slice of bread in water, squeeze dry and add to meat. Chill mixture until firm, about 1/2 hour. While meatballs chill, start sauce. In a heavy large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Working in batches without overcrowding, brown the spareribs, sausages and pork pieces on all sides, removing them as they brown (add small amounts of oil as necessary during browning.) Add onion, shallot and garlic to pot and cook, stirring, until shallot and onion are lightly browned. Break up tomatoes with hands or scissors into small pieces and add to the pot with half of the fresh basil, salt, the dried basil, dried oregano, and black pepper. Return meats to pot, bring to a boil, lower to low heat, and simmer, tightly covered, until sauce has thickened and the ribs are tender, about 2 hours. Keep an eye on it, adding water in small amounts as necessary to prevent the sauce from scorching. While sauce is simmering, preheat broiler. Using about 1/3 cup meatball mixture for each, form into 8 meatballs, placing them on the broiler pan as you go. Broil; turn them and brown the other side. Add meatballs to the sauce about an hour into the cooking. Stir gently so as not to break up the meatballs and continue simmering. Cook ziti in a large pot of boiling salted water, according to package directions. Meanwhile, stir remaining basil into sauce. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add enough of the sauce to lightly coat the pasta and transfer to a very large platter. Arrange meats around edge of platter and top the pasta with more sauce. Serve with remaining sauce and cheese.

 

Notes: This is one of those unforgettable Sunday extravaganza/meals that Italians get starry-eyed about after they grow up and leave home. No need to worry about side dishes; chances are nobody will notice. Just have plenty of crusty Italian bread on hand for soaking up the "gravy".

 

Number of Servings: 8 servings

 

Submitted by: Lilykyte2056679 ()

 

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