Sunday, January 6, 2008

nonna's sauce

this is the sauce recipe that my dad's nonna (my great grandmother) always made and it's a staple of our family get togethers. every christmas the menu for our family party is the same: pasta with nonna's sauce and sausage with peppers and onions. mom taught me how to make it and someday i hope i'll teach my kids to make it too.
you'll really need about three hours to make this sauce, but believe me, it's worth it. i always get the sauce going and then start in on making my
mom's meatballs. just add them in after they're browned and let them simmer with the sauce.

nonna's sauce

2 pork chops (bone-in)
2 large cans of tomato sauce (56 oz)
4 small cans of tomato paste (24 oz)
6 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbs dried basil
1 tbs dried oregano
2 bay leafs
3 tbs sugar

in a large stock pot, brown pork chops. remove pork and pour water in hot pan and deglaze (a wooden spoon is helpful for this). combine remaining ingredients and add pork back to pan. simmer for at least 2 hours. these proportions make enough for 2 pounds of pasta, which means unless you're feeding 8 people, you'll have enough for leftovers later in the week. and homemade sauce in the fridge is like money in the bank.

7 comments:

Dave said...

Pretty close to my Nona's. Mine evolved differently over the years. I now skip the paste and use ground San Marzano (when I splurge, Dei Fratelli when I'm cheap). The bone-in pork chops is a great part. I only put meat in sometime.

Nice meeting you today.

Emily said...

The sauce coats the pasta, perfectly. I'm surprised how simple the recipe is. (In a good way).
I would love to try some San Marzano tomatoes. Maybe I'll have Dave ship me some.

Anonymous said...

This sauce sounds fantastic. If you know any, can you post some baccala recipes?

heather said...

sorry, baccala wasn't in my family's recipe box.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this sauce, super easy to make, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Looks really yummy...I will try it soon. Do you have a source for San Marzano tomatoes in the Columbus area? I live in Worthington. It's nice to discover your blog.

Dave said...

San Marzanos are everywhere. Giant Eagle in the "Italian" section, Weilands on Indianola, Whole Foods. Pricey though.