For many years when our children were little we spent a week (or two) in the Summer on Cape Cod. We would rent a house and do our own cooking most days. We'd make our beach sandwiches and dinner (mostly grilling burgers and hot dogs or local seafood) after a day at the beach or one of the sandy bottomed ponds. A couple of beers or a gin and tonic to wash away the salt and sand and all was right with the world!
The daily "routine" was wonderful - as long as the sun was out. Now of course it's true that on the Cape - "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." , but every year it seemed that there was at least one day that was a complete wash-out. On those days, the "plan" was board games (later video games), reading or a full court press on the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that I felt compelled to bring each year.
The dinner plan also changed - no grilling - it was a big pot of tomato sauce - with meatballs and sausage and maybe a couple of pork chops thrown in. A bottle of red wine (a Sangiovese if you've got one), some garlic bread and everyone was happy (or at least less disappointed in having missed a day at the beach)!
Cape Cod Rainy Day Tomato Sauce
When you are homebound on your "vacation at the beach" this is a great lazy-day, crowd pleasing meal to throw together. Everybody's happy!
Cape Cod Rainy Day Tomato Sauce
For an Italian-American like me there is, in my experience, never really a recipe for this dish. There is "Grandma's Sauce (or Gravy) and it is what it is. There isn't a definitively "right" way to make the dish that has been documented that measures all the ingredients. It's simply "watch and learn". A pinch of this, a pinch of that. It also seems that if you don't have one particular thing like home canned fresh tomatoes or garden grown basil that's also fine - you "make do" with what you do have.
Working out of a rented shore house's pantry created a "recipe" based on the principle of "make do". To this day, I don't really have a recipe to share. I don't measure the various ingredients for this particular dish, nor do I always make it the same way, because I don't always have very same ingredient at hand even in my own pantry. With all of that as background, what I will share with you is what I do include in the tomato sauce and in my meatballs (when I have the ingredients :-))!
The sauce
If you want to have a rich and velvety sauce, you must use some sort of bone-in cut of beef veal or pork. In descending order of "richness" - the cuts of choice are 1) Ox tail, 2) veal neck, 3) pork chops. The "velvet" comes from the cut that has the greatest amount of gelatin. These tend to be the least expensive cuts. The kind of cut that requires a long slow braise to become tender, but that's fine, because that's what you are going to do - cook them in tomato sauce for 4 hours or so! Whatever the local Cape Cod supermarket had, that's what I used.
I like to use carrots, onions and fresh garlic in my sauce. After I sauté the meat, I rough chop the veggies and sauté them in the same pot. If you cut the vegetables into 1 inch or smaller pieces they will dissolve into the sauce in the long cooking process.
I like to use red wine! After all the meat and veggies have been cooked I deglaze the pot, (scraping up all the good bits on the bottom) with a full 750ml bottle of red wine. Cooking with alcohol is a flavor enhancer (look it up) - so if you are able - pour in a bottle of wine.
Herbs and spices - what ever was in the pantry - typically that was dried basil and dried oregano. Fine. If there was also fennel seed, dried rosemary, red pepper flake they were also included. Fresh basil is great, but I prefer reserving it for use as a fresh garnish on the fully cooked dish.
"Secret Ingredients" - brown sugar, tomato paste and anchovies (or anchovy paste). Only the anchovies are "secret" because if my children would see this included they might not eat the sauce. These three ingredients add a depth of flavor to the sauce that makes a real difference. The anchovies DO NOT taste at all fishy - they simply add a layer of umami. I have also used dark chocolate and cinnamon on occasion - it just depends on what sort of mood I'm in.
Canned tomatoes - use the whole plum tomatoes if they are available. I was always told that the whole tomatoes are the best quality - but who knows.
After all the meat (I like to include both hot and mild sausage in addition to the bone-in cuts) and veggies have been browned and the pot deglazed with wine, add the tomatoes and the browned meat - bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and allow to cook uncovered for 4 hours. Stir every 45 minutes or so and let the aroma fill the house!
Meatballs
Where's the Meatballs?!
I used to cook the meatballs in the same big pot with the sauce and sausage and meat, but when I stirred the pot every so often, the meatballs would invariably break apart - so now I cook them in a separate baking dish in the oven. I cook them "low and slow" at 250F for two hours. I ladle hot tomato sauce over them to the point where they are covered about halfway. I then cover the baking dish with parchment and then the parchment with heavy duty aluminum foil, sealing the top all the way around. I use the layer of parchment because I don't like the acidic sauce to come in contact with the foil. I cook them for 2 hours, but usually leave the entire dish (unopened) in the oven after I turn off the heat. This braising process, along with the inclusion of ricotta, pecorino and bread crumbs produce a very soft meatball (which is what I prefer).
Beef, Veal, Pork?
Frequently you'll see a package of ground meat labeled "meatball blend" that is equal parts ground beef, veal and pork. That's fine to use. It's also fine to use all beef if that's what they have.
I like my meatballs very soft so to achieve that consistency I do a few things:
I use lots of seasoned breadcrumbs - a ratio of about 2/3 cup of crumbs to every 1 pound of meat,
I include dairy - ricotta - at a ratio of about 1 part ground meat to .75 parts ricotta and ground pecorino-romano cheese - about 1/4 cup per pound of meat.
I also use dry herbs and garlic and onion powder in the meat mixture.
All the dry ingredients absorb the sauce they are cooked in and, along with the cheese, create a very tender meatball.
I do NOT use egg to help bind the mixture. In my experience, when cooked separately and not stirred, the meatballs hold together just fine - and they are soft. For me the egg makes the meatball a little tougher.
That's it - Mangia Bene!
For an Italian-American like me there is, in my experience, never really a recipe for this dish. There is "Grandma's Sauce (or Gravy) and it is what it is. There isn't a definitively "right" way to make the dish that has been documented that measures all the ingredients. It's simply "watch and learn". A pinch of this, a pinch of that. It also seems that if you don't have one particular thing like home canned fresh tomatoes or garden grown basil that's also fine - you "make do" with what you do have.
Working out of a rented shore house's pantry created a "recipe" based on the principle of "make do". To this day, I don't really have a recipe to share. I don't measure the various ingredients for this particular dish, nor do I always make it the same way, because I don't always have very same ingredient at hand even in my own pantry. With all of that as background, what I will share with you is what I do include in the tomato sauce and in my meatballs (when I have the ingredients :-))!
The sauce
If you want to have a rich and velvety sauce, you must use some sort of bone-in cut of beef veal or pork. In descending order of "richness" - the cuts of choice are 1) Ox tail, 2) veal neck, 3) pork chops. The "velvet" comes from the cut that has the greatest amount of gelatin. These tend to be the least expensive cuts. The kind of cut that requires a long slow braise to become tender, but that's fine, because that's what you are going to do - cook them in tomato sauce for 4 hours or so! Whatever the local Cape Cod supermarket had, that's what I used.
I like to use carrots, onions and fresh garlic in my sauce. After I sauté the meat, I rough chop the veggies and sauté them in the same pot. If you cut the vegetables into 1 inch or smaller pieces they will dissolve into the sauce in the long cooking process.
I like to use red wine! After all the meat and veggies have been cooked I deglaze the pot, (scraping up all the good bits on the bottom) with a full 750ml bottle of red wine. Cooking with alcohol is a flavor enhancer (look it up) - so if you are able - pour in a bottle of wine.
Herbs and spices - what ever was in the pantry - typically that was dried basil and dried oregano. Fine. If there was also fennel seed, dried rosemary, red pepper flake they were also included. Fresh basil is great, but I prefer reserving it for use as a fresh garnish on the fully cooked dish.
"Secret Ingredients" - brown sugar, tomato paste and anchovies (or anchovy paste). Only the anchovies are "secret" because if my children would see this included they might not eat the sauce. These three ingredients add a depth of flavor to the sauce that makes a real difference. The anchovies DO NOT taste at all fishy - they simply add a layer of umami. I have also used dark chocolate and cinnamon on occasion - it just depends on what sort of mood I'm in.
Canned tomatoes - use the whole plum tomatoes if they are available. I was always told that the whole tomatoes are the best quality - but who knows.
After all the meat (I like to include both hot and mild sausage in addition to the bone-in cuts) and veggies have been browned and the pot deglazed with wine, add the tomatoes and the browned meat - bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and allow to cook uncovered for 4 hours. Stir every 45 minutes or so and let the aroma fill the house!
Meatballs
Where's the Meatballs?!
I used to cook the meatballs in the same big pot with the sauce and sausage and meat, but when I stirred the pot every so often, the meatballs would invariably break apart - so now I cook them in a separate baking dish in the oven. I cook them "low and slow" at 250F for two hours. I ladle hot tomato sauce over them to the point where they are covered about halfway. I then cover the baking dish with parchment and then the parchment with heavy duty aluminum foil, sealing the top all the way around. I use the layer of parchment because I don't like the acidic sauce to come in contact with the foil. I cook them for 2 hours, but usually leave the entire dish (unopened) in the oven after I turn off the heat. This braising process, along with the inclusion of ricotta, pecorino and bread crumbs produce a very soft meatball (which is what I prefer).
Beef, Veal, Pork?
Frequently you'll see a package of ground meat labeled "meatball blend" that is equal parts ground beef, veal and pork. That's fine to use. It's also fine to use all beef if that's what they have.
I like my meatballs very soft so to achieve that consistency I do a few things:
I use lots of seasoned breadcrumbs - a ratio of about 2/3 cup of crumbs to every 1 pound of meat,
I include dairy - ricotta - at a ratio of about 1 part ground meat to .75 parts ricotta and ground pecorino-romano cheese - about 1/4 cup per pound of meat.
I also use dry herbs and garlic and onion powder in the meat mixture.
All the dry ingredients absorb the sauce they are cooked in and, along with the cheese, create a very tender meatball.
I do NOT use egg to help bind the mixture. In my experience, when cooked separately and not stirred, the meatballs hold together just fine - and they are soft. For me the egg makes the meatball a little tougher.
That's it - Mangia Bene!
© Joe V 2021 | Website by TesslerDesigns