Mr. Kwasny's Class

i don’t think i ever got back to this…and, since i can’t remember where i left off, i’ll start again!!!

chopped garlic…plenty

chopped red pepper for flavor…i use a good sized pepper (you can also use green pepper for added flavor!!!!)

mushrooms(optional)….sliced…can help thicken sauce

yellow onion…chopped…sometimes i skip this…makes my eyes water something horrible!

italian sausage(cook in water first…turn them greyish…make sure are done….then, slice and brown in olive oil…save oil when done and set aside sausage)

add a little more olive oil to skillet…stir around and make sure oil is not too hot…add some oregano…heat oil

add chopped garlic and pepper…onion, too, if you have it…a little at a time and keep stirring…you don’t want to burn garlic, etc

when garlic… just a little brown…add either chopped tomatoes and their juice (hard way) or several cans of tomato sauce

i usually add a can of chopped tomatoes and then some small cans of sauce

also can use puree…i now use puree 50% and sauce 50%(to be old school:  crush fresh tomatoes into a large bowl and use them…add paste and puree and leave out the cans of sauce…this is alot of work, tho…..that’s why they invented canned sauce)

stir and heat thru

throw in sausage and if you have it, a hunk of browned veal…this is best for flavor(brown veal ahead of time in same skllet as sausage….gets all that meat flavor in at the beginning!!!!

grandma also threw in a hunk of browned beef (can be a cheap piece…it is just for flavor and fat)

simmer now and let flavors blend…keep stirring every so often

now:  make sure that you add some powdered garlic and plenty of oregano…this is where you have to use yourown judgement….i like a  lot of oregano and garlic…..

either grate some romano cheese or buy it already grated and sprinkle it into the simmering sauce…stir in well….this helps flavor (and is very salty,so be careful how much you put in)…also will thicken sauce

if too salty now, add some more sauce!!!

you also can grate parmesan and add to sauce…i don’t like parmesan much so don’t tend to use it

now, for the key ingredient:  anise seed….i sprinkle a dash of anise seed (not the liquid stuff) into the sauce….this is to taste, so you have to experiment….i like the hint of anise when i eat sauce, so i use more than you might want to

let simmer….you can remove the beef…it should be very tender and tasty…slice if you like

you can remove veal and eat it…it is expensive!!!!

the sausage i leave in and serve with sauce

you can use meatballs instead of sausage…..cook them ahead of time…bake them…and plop into sauce

the longer the sauce simmers, the more the meat will flavor the sauce…….

let me know how it turns out….i can tell you how i prepare sauce for parmigiana(??) and lasagna if you want sometime…they are much simpler to prepare