Arrabiata Meat Sauce

Name: Arrabiata Meat Sauce
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 medium yellow onions; 2 lbs meatball mix (beef, pork, veal ground mix); 6 links hot Italian sausage; 3 (28 oz) cans Cento crushed tomatoes; 1 (12 oz) can Cento tomato paste; 3 (12 oz) cans diced tomatoes; 6 cloves minced garlic; 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan; 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning; to taste Salt; 4-6 bay leaves; to taste Pepper

The O’Lius @cook_14599469

Washington, DC

Our first big "adult" purchase was our giant shiny 8-quart Calphalon stock pot, used almost exclusively for this sauce :)
 This is a family recipe for arrabiata sauce passed down by the Polish women in my family for at least three generations now. (How a spicy Italian meat sauce became the star dish of a Polish cook, I have no idea.)
 Great meat sauce starts with great meat. We've found the key is to buy from a specialized butcher. If you have an Italian butcher, even better. It's more expensive, but worth every penny. We get ours out at Springfield Butcher in Springfield, Virginia. Even higher end grocery stores, like Wegmans or Whole Foods, simply can't cut it when the flavor of the meat is this important.
 The only other ingredient I am super picky about is the brand of crushed tomatoes we use. Cento (the bright yellow can) is the ONLY brand we have ever found that uses nothing but tomatoes. No citric acid, no salt, no nothing but tomatoes. We've made it before with other brands, and it is not the same.

This is the recipe as it now stands. My mother made changes to it over the years, and we made ours. We like things SPICY so we use all hot Italian sausage, but you can dial back the spice by using half hot and half sweet.
 This recipe makes a LOT of sauce - you'll need an 8-quart stock pot if making on the stovetop, or else a large crockpot. Leftovers can be easily frozen in small 1-quart Tupperwares for easy meals. We usually get least 6 meals out of this recipe.

The O’Lius @cook_14599469

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Ingredients

2 tbspolive oil
2medium yellow onions
2 lbsmeatball mix (beef, pork, veal ground mix)
6 linkshot Italian sausage
3 (28 oz)cans Cento crushed tomatoes
1 (12 oz)can Cento tomato paste
3 (12 oz)cans diced tomatoes
6 clovesminced garlic
6 tablespoonsgrated Parmesan
2 tablespoonsItalian seasoning
to tasteSalt
4-6bay leaves
to tastePepper

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Steps

1

Sauté diced yellow onions and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
2

Add meat (open sausage links and add just the contents) and sauté until most of the pink has disappeared. Stir well to separate meat into small bits.
3

Add the cans of crushed tomatoes, the tomato paste, diced tomatoes (with their juices), Parmesan, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.
4

Let simmer on low for at LEAST 2 hours (ideally 4) stirring every 20 minutes or so. Do a taste test about an hour before sauce is done (but not before two hours) and add more salt/seasoning to taste.
5

Serve over any pasta you like! (Note: remove any bay leaves when serving). Leftovers freeze well and can be defrosted and reheated for easy weekday meals.