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Italian

Christmas Party 2018, Christmas Party 2017, Christmas Party 2016, Christmas Party 2015, Christmas Party 2013

1/4 cup plus 3+ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
12 cloves garlic (or more) peeled and sliced
6 6 oz cans of tomato paste (for crockpot use 3 cans)
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 tsp salt
9 whole basil leaves
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (more or less to taste)
12 tomato paste cans of water (for crockpot use 6)
3 35 oz cans whole tomatoes with juice pureed (for crockpot use 2)
1 1/2 tomato cans of water (for crockpots use 1)
1 recipe Sunday Meatballs (Click Here)
4-6 bracciole (New Fairfield Market, pork)
3/4 lb stew meet, or nice steak cubed
Italian sausage (1 hot 1 sweet or 2 hot)
red wine (merlot, cabernet)
dried oregano, basil, salt and pepper for seasoning
brown sugar (if tomatoes are acidic)

Place 1/4 cup olive oil in a large saucepot on medium heat. Saute the garlic for about 1 minute (till golden). Add the tomato paste and fry it for 5 minutes stirring constantly till thick and bubbly (if it burns the sauce will be bitter). Stir in 2x (12 for 6 cans, 6 for 3 cans) paste cans of water (scraping out any remnants in the can) and let simmer 20 minutes stirring occassionally. It should thicken nicely.


Add the pureed tomatoes, the 1 1/2 tomato cans of water, the oregano, salt, basil and red pepper flakes . If using a crockpot, put this in the crockpot on high and add the paste/water mixture. In addition add about 1/8 a bottle of wine. Bring it to a boil and then lower so it barely simmers. Place a wooden spoon under the lid to allow venting. Sir Occasionally to prevent sticking.

While the sauce simmers, place the remaining olive oil in a skillet and brown the meat components (you may need some more oil). They dont neeed to cook through but they should be nicely browned. When done, set aside and add the drippings to the them.

After the sauce has simmered at least 2 hours, taste and season (more wine, oregano, basil, red pepper and pepper) but don't add salt yet. If using a crockpot remove 2 cups of the sauce and set aside. Add the browned meats and drippings in batches,, take care not to break the meatbals. Make sure the meat is covered by the sauce, if its not add water, wine or regular tomato sauce to bring the level up). This will cook another 2-4 hours, stir every 20 minutes or so to prevent sticking. After the first hour reseason and do so every half hour. If the sauce is acidic, add brown sugar a tsp at a time. In general I use about a 1/2 bottle of wine by the end. At the end skim off any grease which has floated to the top and you are ready to go. If using a crockpot skim as you go aand add in the reserved sauce as you can, but to not overflow.

you need to be careful with the meats amount for the crockpot. 3lb of meatballs and 1 pack of sausage are it. Cook on high for roughly 10 hours.

Excellent