Recipe: Lidia's Italian-American Meat Sauce (Sugo di Carne)

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LIDIA'S ITALIAN-AMERICAN MEAT SAUCE (Sugo di Carne)
Source: Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
Makes about 8 cups, enough to fill and sauce Italian-American Lasagna or to dress about 2 pounds pasta

Two cans (35-ounce each) Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
6 to 8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
5 to 6 meaty pork neck bones (about 3 4 pound)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
Salt
4 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably the Sicilian or Greek type dried on the branch, crumbled
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup tomato paste*
3 to 4 cups hot water

If you have trouble finding ground pork, or if you prefer to grind your own, it's really very easy. (And if you buy a piece of bone-in pork to grind, you'll have the bones you need for the sauce.) Remove all bones and gristle from the meat, but leave some of the fat. Cut the pork into 1-inch pieces, and chill them thoroughly. Grind about half at a time in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse, using quick on/off motions, until the meat is ground coarsely.

In my region of Italy, tomato paste is usually added along with the onions to caramelize a little bit. But around Naples, and the rest of southern Italy, tomato paste is stirred right into the sauce. That's how I do it here.

When the sauce is finished simmering, you can pull the meat from the bones and stir it into the sauce, or you can do what I do--nibble on it while the sauce perks away. This makes quite a bit of sauce--enough to feed a small crowd and have enough left over to freeze in small quantities for a quick pasta meal for one or two.

Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill fitted with the fine disc. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy 4- to 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes.

Make a little room in the center of the pot, dump in the garlic, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Add the pork bones and cook, turning, until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Add the ground beef and pork and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring to break up the meat, until the meat changes color and the water it gives off is boiled away, about 10 minutes.

Continue cooking until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the bay leaves and oregano, then pour in the wine. Bring to a boil and cook, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the pot, until the wine is almost completely evaporated. Pour in the tomatoes, then stir in the tomato paste until it is dissolved. Season lightly with salt. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat to a lively simmer, and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the sauce takes on a deep, brick-red color, 2 to 3 hours.

Add the hot water, about 1/2 cup at a time, as necessary to maintain the level of liquid for the length of time the sauce cooks.

Skim off any fat floating on top and adjust the seasoning as necessary. The sauce can be prepared entirely in advance and refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

*TOMATO PASTE

Tomato paste is the essence of tomato in a concentrated form. I use tomato paste to bring an intense tomato flavor to a dish, or when I want the sweetness and mellow flavor of tomato without the acidity of fresh tomatoes. I also add tomato paste to soups, braised meat dishes, and slow-simmered tomato sauces for a rich color and complexity of flavor. The next time you make a roast, dilute a tablespoon of tomato paste in a cup of hot stock or water and add it to the pan. It will give the roast a bit of color and a lot of taste.

Traditionally, tomato paste is made by spreading very ripe tomatoes on a wooden board to dry in the sun. As they dry, the tomatoes are turned daily and spread out on the board, like plaster of Paris, until most of their water is evaporated. During the drying process, the tomatoes' acidity is greatly reduced and their flavor and sweetness are intensified. Today, tomato paste is dehydrated in commercial plants by boiling the tomatoes down, then drying them in a slow oven.

To give tomato paste a nuttier flavor, I like to caramelize it by cooking it in oil along with vegetables before the other ingredients are added to the pot. And, to get the most out it, I like to cook it longer than I would fresh or canned tomatoes.