My Mother's Sunday Gravy Recipe

Every Sunday, my mother would rise early to assemble her “Sunday Gravy,” which is what Italian Americans in Philadelphia, much of New Jersey and enclaves of Connecticut called your basic red sauce.

Welcome to ‘Mangia! With Roger Stone’, a brand new section right here on Stone Cold Truth.

In Italian, mangia means "to eat." So this is where I will post family recipes and other food and drink related content every Sunday!

To start things off, I can’t think of a better recipe to share than my world-famous Sunday Gravy — a recipe passed down to me by my late mother, who would have turned 100 in September.

I grew up in the Connecticut suburbs of New York City in a working-class family that’s half-Italian.

Every Sunday, my mother would rise early to assemble her “Sunday Gravy,” which is what Italian Americans in Philadelphia, much of New Jersey and enclaves of Connecticut called your basic red sauce.

The recipe is precise and the specific list of ingredients inviolable, or the entire production is doomed from the start.

The centerpiece ingredients of this Italian American staple are canned imported San Marzano tomatoes.

San Marzano is not a brand of tomato, but rather a type of plum tomato from a specific region of Italy.

No other canned imported tomatoes will do. Be vigilant about tomatoes labeled “San Marzano Style” tomatoes because such an annotation on the can means someone is selling you fugazi.

I repeat: only real San Marzano tomatoes will do.

Now, to the recipe . . .

First, take a medium-size yellow onion and dice it. Sauté the onion on a medium flame in olive oil specifically labeled “For Sautéing & Grilling” until translucent.

If you intend to make this a hearty meat sauce, this is where you add the meat. I prefer a mix of equal parts ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork.

Take three large cloves of minced garlic and add to the pan. Note: garlic has a lower burning point than onions and should only be added when the onions are translucent, but before they brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add two cans of whole San Marzano plum tomatoes, including the juice. Using a spatula, crush and break apart the tomatoes.

Add two-and-a-half tablespoons of oregano, one tablespoon of mixed Italian spices (basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage). Add coarse black pepper and salt to taste. Remember the tomatoes are naturally salty, so be cautious.

Let this mixture cook at a low to medium heat, as it will need to thicken. Add one can of imported tomato paste and an equal size can of water. Continue cooking. The flavors only meld after several hours cooking at a low heat, being careful not to burn the gravy nor to allow it to become too thick.

And there you have it: Sunday Gravy.

Best served over rigatoni, ziti, penne, or a thin #11 spaghetti.

Mangia!

If you end up cooking up this recipe, let me know how you like it — or better yet, send a picture of the finished product to me via private message here on Substack. I may include your picture in a future post!

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