Danny Calamari's Red Sauce

If you know me, I’ve probably cooked for you or shared leftovers with you at some point. In an effort to start getting my “recipes” out of my head and onto paper, I’ll be periodically posting some of my favorite dishes on here, stay posted, try one out.

A little background on my culinary ventures/style... Many of my recipes need to be “felt”, that is, I’ll provide as much detail as possible when it comes to the overall quantity of ingredients and process for combining those ingredients but you’ll rarely see me calling for teaspoons, quarts and ounces of specified ingredients. To me it’s all about the final result, that is delicious meals made with love, and you can’t measure love, you’ve got to “feel it”.

“Danny Calamari’s Red Sauce and Meatballs”

Time: 45 minutes (prep)

2+ hours (sitting)

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

4 Cans imported San Marzano tomatoes (28oz., peeled)

2 Cans organic tomato paste (6oz)

4 Italian sausages (2 sweet and 2 spicy)

2 Sheets Prosciutto (Pra-zhute as we say back east)

½ LB Ground veal

½ LB Ground lamb

1 Clove of garlic

1 Large yellow onion

1 Bunch Oregano, Rosemary and Basil

1 Bottle medium-to-full bodied Italian red wine

1 Bottle EVOO - I’m partial to the California stuff, particularly Bariani

¼ LB Grated Parmesan and Romano cheese (mixed)

1 Egg

Half + Half

Italian Bread Crumbs

Ground Fennel Seeds

Salt + Pepper

Red Chili Pepper flakes

Are you ready? My cooking often involves a lot of forethought, periods of extreme focus and a little wine to make the process flow. Often I’ll send my guests (or my girlfriend) to the living room to relax and let me thrive in my “happy place”. I encourage you to do the same.

1. Chop up a “fist worth” of rosemary, oregano and garlic. Split the onion in half, chop ⅓ up finely (for meatballs) and the other ⅔ into half-inch squares (for sauce). Separate each of the herbs and garlic into 2 even piles (you’ll end up with 8 piles altogether).

2. Heat up a frying pan on low heat and fill with a “generous” amount of olive oil to fill the pan, think ⅛”. Add 1 of your garlic piles to the oil keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t smoke and the garlic gets no more than “lightly golden”.

3. Heat up a sauce pot (8 quarts) on low heat. Pour another “generous” pour of olive oil into the bottom of the pot, think ¼”. Use a blender to blend the San Marzano tomatoes until “liquified” and add the contents to the pot after you blend each can. Cover and keep on low heat.

4. Add 1 pile of the rosemary, oregano and the ⅔ pile of onion to the sauce pot. Throw in 12-15 whole basil leaves as well. At this point your sauteed garlic should be near transparent, pour it and the oil it cooked in into the pot. Add a “generous” pinch or two of salt, pepper and chili flakes. Give one good stir for “equal distribution”, cover and let sit on low heat.

5. Combine remaining rosemary, oregano, garlic and onion into a large mixing bowl. Add 2-3 “pinches” of ground fennel seeds, 2 “pinches” of chili flakes, 3-4 collective spoonfuls of grated parmesan and romano cheese, a splash of half & half and the egg (should be whisked) to the bowl. Stir aggressively, let sit.

6. Chop up prosciutto into specks, set aside. Squeeze sausages from casings, create one big “sausage ball”, set aside on it’s own plate. Thoroughly mix veal, lamb, prosciutto and sausage by “mashing” together with knuckles until evenly distributed into a “meat log” of sorts. You don’t want to see “cracks” in the meat separating the different kinds.

7. Set aside a bowl of bread crumbs next to your bowl of well mixed herbs. Place your “meat log” into the bowl of herbs, spices, egg and half+half. Press down to flatten the meat on top of the mix. Break up the meat with your hands combining meat with mix as evenly as possible. The key here being “even distribution”.

8. Roll balls of meat 3’’ in diameter or so in the palm of your hand. Once you achieve your ball shape, roll in breadcrumbs and set aside. You should have around 16 meatballs.

9. Open up your “Bottle-uh-Red” (if you haven’t already). Pour a glass, taste, then pour a “generous” amount into your sauce pot. It should equate to about a ¼ of a glass. Add 2 cans of tomato paste to sauce in spoonfuls (rather than plopping the entire blob in at once). Keep covered on low heat.

10. Heat up a frying pan on low heat, add about an ⅛” olive oil (you could use a higher heat oil, I don’t, again being vigilant is key here). Sear meatballs until the outsides begin to brown and “crisp-up”. Set aside.

11. Give your “red sauce” a good stir, taste. Keep covered on low heat.

12. Heat up, on low heat, a smaller pot (4 quarts) adding 2-3 ladles of your red sauce to the pot. Add meatballs. Add more sauce just to the point where you can see the tops of the balls. Keep on low heat at least 60 minutes stirring occasionally. You’ll want to see the deep red of the oil and sauce culminate. Pull out a meatball, cut in half, checking to see there’s little-to-no pink remaining. Ultimately I like mine to be just past the point of pink. You’ll have to feel this one out.

13. At this point your pot of red sauce will have evolved into something sauce worthy. You can let it sit on low heat as you boil your pasta. Altogether, I’ll let my sauce keep on low heat at least 2 hours if not up to 3 hours.

14. When your pasta is ready, drain immediately, coat the bottom of your pasta pot with a splash of sauce, put the pasta back in the pot, add another splash of sauce and stir well. Be careful not break pasta. This helps it from getting stuck together and some like to say the pasta will absorb the sauce. I’m a believer.

15. Serve pasta in bowls with additional ladles of sauce as you see fit. Plop a couple meatballs on top. Garnish with grated parmesan. You’ve got yourself a meal. Enjoy!