Though there is nary a drop of Italian blood in either of us, we do have a love affair with good Italian food. In many Italian American households, Sunday means there’s red sauce simmering all day on the stove. It might be called sauce, sugo or gravy, and surely every family makes it differently, but the result is always a tomato sauce rich with meat.
Some recipes are less about the cooking and more about the ritual — the low simmer that fills the house for hours, the wooden spoon that never quite gets put away, the whole family finding their way to the kitchen. This is one of those recipes. A proper Sunday Sauce built on shreddy pork shoulder, Italian sausage, and tender meatballs, slow-cooked until everything melds into something deeply savory and rich. Make it on the stovetop or let the slow cooker do the heavy lifting while you get on with your Sunday.
When it’s ready, toss pasta through the sauce until every strand is coated, spoon the meat generously on top, and bring it to the table with a green salad, plenty of crusty bread, and a good red wine. It’s a meal that’s meant to be shared, and shared unhurriedly. Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze beautifully for up to three months — though in our experience, it rarely makes it that far.
In the end, once we removed the meat, the sauce seemed too thin. We therefore covered the bowl of meat with tinfoil and put it in a 200°F oven to keep warm. To thicken the sauce, we added a 1/4 cup of double-concentrate tomato paste and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Ideally you would want to add the tomato paste at the end of Step 2 (before adding the crushed tomatoes), cooking it about 2 minutes until it starts to darken.
Sunday Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 1 lb. hot or sweet Italian sausage, or a combination
- 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- ⅓ cup red wine
- 1⁄4 cup tomato paste (see head note)
- 2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
- 3 basil sprigs
- 1 lb. uncooked homemade or store-bought meatballs
- 1½ lbs. tubular or long noodles, like rigatoni or spaghetti
- Grated Parmesan or pecorino, for serving
Directions
- Season the pork shoulder all over with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high. Working in batches if necessary, cook the pork until browned on two sides, 8 to 10 minutes total, adding more oil if the pan looks dry. Transfer pieces to a bowl as they finish. Add the sausages to the pot and cook until browned, 4 to 6 minutes total. Transfer to the bowl.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, if needed, and the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the red wine, stir, scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan and cook until the wine is nearly evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes. If using, add the tomato paste, stirring occasionally until it darkens, about 2 minutes more.
- Add the tomatoes and basil, then fill one of the 28-ounce cans with water. (You’ll use it in a second.) Return the pork shoulder and sausages to the pot, along with any accumulated juices in the bowl. Nudge them around so they are submerged. Add the meatballs on top, then add enough water from the can to cover the meat. (There’s no need to stir.) Partly cover the pot, bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork shoulder falls apart when shredded with a fork, about 2½ hours.
- When you’re ready to eat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions until al dente. While the pasta cooks, slice the sausage and shred the pork shoulder. Transfer to a platter along with the meatballs and a few spoonfuls of sauce. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain and add the pasta to the pot of sauce. Over medium heat, toss the pasta with the sauce, adding pasta water as needed until the sauce clings to the pasta.
- Divide pasta between bowls, then top with a bit of each meat. Pass the Parmesan and platter of meat at the table.
Adapted from a recipe by Ali Slagle for NYTimes Cooking
