This is a genuine, old world recipe from Sicily. My mother got this recipe from her best friend's elderly Sicilian mother in the late 1930's. If made according to directions, it will produce a traditional Italian "gravy" you won't believe! You can leave out the mushrooms or meatballs if you like, and it will still be the best gravy you've ever had. It has nothing to do with 300s of course, but who doesn't like to eat after working on the car all day?

Basic Ingredients……do not change, do not substitute. Quality will suffer.


8  28 ounce cans of Italian Crushed Tomatoes….Progresso, Tuttorosa, Rienzi, Cento, Pope, Sclafani, other Italian brands…….do not use store brands as they contain too much water. Watch Progresso, they are a bit chunky and may need to be blended first. 

1 28 ounce can of tomato puree


2 small cans of tomato paste


Grated Parmesan or Romano Italian cheese…..freshly grated is best. Colonna or Sclafani in jars is good. Sclafani is a Connecticut company, I don't know if their products are available elsewhere.


Oregano, fresh is best, jar is okay 

Garlic, fresh cloves from the produce department. One and a half full cloves will do. You can also use minced garlic in a jar if it is Sclafani, but it is VERY strong. Fresh is best.


Sugar or honey or both


Hot pepper if desired, one or two jalapenos, to taste


Ground beef…….buy the cheapest with lots of fat. It tastes better. A 2 lb pkg will do. Optional is to add ground pork and ground veal, a little of each. Low fat dry chop meat makes dry, tough meatballs.


2 eggs


Italian flavored bread crumbs


Italian olive oil


Italian wine……a cheap dry red burgundy or chianti, it’s just for flavor.


Optional but very good……..one package of sliced mushrooms fresh from produce.



Now comes the work! Make the meatballs first.


Combine the chop meat, (veal and pork) one cup of bread crumbs, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of garlic from the jar or add your fresh chopped garlic to taste, 1 tablespoon of oregano, 3 tablespoons of cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add a little regular black pepper. Mix together thoroughly and roll into meatballs. Put them on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 325 degrees for about half an hour. You should sprinkle a little olive oil on them before baking. Remove and allow to sit. While these are cooking, make the optional mushrooms below.


Put a quarter of a cup of olive oil and a tablespoon of garlic in a large frying pan and heat until it begins to bubble slightly. Turn the heat down and add all the mushrooms. Cover and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally. When all the mushrooms are soft looking and mushy, add a cup of wine and allow to continue to simmer. They should cook for about half an hour. Turn off the heat and let cool.


Now the sauce part. Put all the tomatoes, paste, and puree into a large pot. Add a half cup of olive oil, a cup of wine, a half cup of sugar or honey or both, 4 tablespoons of oregano, 4 tablespoons of cheese, half a teaspoon of hot pepper (optional) or your jalapenos, (2 will barely begin to warm the sauce, so if you want it hotter add more) a full clove of diced garlic, and all the meatballs. (Not the grease) Stir in the mushrooms too, with all the juice. That’s it. Now you cook it.

SLOWLY bring the entire mix to a very slow boil (barely bubbling) stirring occasionally to avoid sticking. Once it is boiling you will want to cover it with one of those gadgets that looks like a round window screen with a handle, either that or it will spit all over the place. Boil at this minimum rate for 2 ½ hours then shut the heat off. Constant stirring is best while cooking. Allow to cool and put into containers and freeze.


Without Meatballs

Put 1/4 cup of olive oil into the bottom of the sauce kettle.  Put about 1.5 pounds of loose chop meat into the bottom of the sauce kettle. Fry until brown, adding garlic, oregano, cheese, pepper, and wine as the meat cooks.  Add tomatoes as above, then cook as above.

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