Foodtopia Moments

Sunday gravy. Those two words evoke a mouth watering image in most Italian-American minds, including mine. I started prepping last night, doing the bulk of cooking before heading out late for fireworks. More than 4 pounds of pomodorini (small tomatoes) were halved and mixed with a cipolla (onion), aglio (garlic), basilico (basil), olio di olive (olive oil) and sale marino (sea salt). Once it was good and cooked, I passed it through a muller, which separated out the seeds and skins. I made brasciola with prezzemolo (parsley), sale marino (sea salt), aglio (garlic) and grana padano formaggio (grana padano cheese). The meatballs were a mix of 20% maielle (pork) and 80% vitellone (beef), along with pane gratuatto (bread crumbs), grana padano formaggio (grana padano cheese), prezzemolo (parsley), sale marino (sea salt) and one uova (egg). I also used a Pugliese sausage that only one butcher counter nearby sells. It is a type of sausage that is not spicy, and not overloaded with garlic or fat, and it is always tender. Once the sauce and meat were mixed together and cooked for about an hour, the flavor was amazing. We heated it up today and served it over trivella pasta, which was perfect for the gravy.