Tom’s Roasted Garlic and Sun Dried Tomato Sausage and “Simple” Red Gravy
Or Spaghetti with Sausage for you Yankees
This is something I make on a regular basis (the sauce, not the sausage) and it is the “simple” version of my red gravy (spaghetti sauce). It will still take a few hours but compared to the “hard” version, it is a lot faster. The sausage was something I decided to do on a whim. It is a very mild sausage (though you could spice it up with more cayenne or perhaps some hot sauce or red pepper flakes) though tasty. It really works well with the red gravy. I personally like a bit of a bite to my red gravy hence the red wine vinegar. If you don’t, leave it out and it’ll be sweeter. You could even add more wine or maybe honey if that’s your thing. Let me know how it works out for you.
Tom’s “Simple” Red Gravy
Source – Me
Ingredients
5 16 oz cans Tomato Sauce
1 can Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
5 shallots or 1 large onion
5-7 cloves of garlic
Red Wine
1 can chicken stock/broth
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Tbsp dried basil
Tbsp dried oregano
Tsp dried thyme
1.5 Tbsp dried parsley
Water
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Directions
Chop the shallot or onions into thin strips or small dice (as you like). Rough chop the garlic (I like it a bit thin but larger pieces). Sauté the shallots (or onions) and garlic in a large stock pot with a little salt and fresh ground pepper until soft (don’t brown). Add about a cup of red wine (or more, doesn’t matter). Cook until wine reduces and thickens slightly (when you run the spoon over the bottom of the pan it should stay visible for a second). Add the chicken stock, basil, oregano, and thyme. Bring to a boil and reduce by at least a third. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper if needed. It should be a little salty at this point. Add red wine vinegar. Bring to boil and cook until the acidic smell is gone and it isn’t to sharp on the tongue. Again, check for seasoning and add salt.
Add the tomato sauce and paste. The tomato paste will thicken the sauce pretty quickly depending on the size of the can. If it is still pretty watery, don’t add water. If it is thick, add some water until it is fairly thin. Bring to a simmer and reduce until thickens. This will probably take at least an hour though you can’t really overcook it. Once you make this sauce once, you’ll recognize the taste difference from when you add the tomato sauce and when it is done. You may need to add salt/pepper at the end. If you want to add any fresh herbs (parsley, basic, etc.) do it right before you serve. I do it in each individual bowl. Fresh herbs loose their flavor quickly under heat so it is best to do it at the end. If you are going to add meat, do it once you are sure the flavor of the sauce is right.
Sun Dried Tomato Sausage
Source – me
Ingredients
1 lb Ground pork
1 lb Ground lamb
1 lb Ground beef
1 tsp Fennel Seed
20 Coriander seeds (whole)
10 Allspice berries (whole)
1/4 – 1 tsp Cayenne pepper (ground)
1/2 large onion grated
1 Tbsp – 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
8 oz bottle of julienned sun dried tomatoes in oil
2 tsp grated ginger
Salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 head (10-15 cloves) of roasted garlic
2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley chopped fine
Directions
You can buy ground lamb/pork/beef if you want. Make sure the beef and lamb have a bit of fat (don’t get the lean stuff). I grind my own using lamb shoulder, pork loin (the dark side), and beef chuck roast. If you grind your own, you could substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs for pork (I wouldn’t get the store-bought ground chicken because it is probably too lean). I just shove the roasted garlic in the grinder but if you buy the pre-ground stuff, you’ll have to mash up the roasted garlic. Toast the fennel, allspice, and coriander in a pan until fragrant and grind until well chopped but not completely turned to dust. Grate the onion with a cheese grater. Do the same with the ginger (freeze it first – I keep mine in the freezer and just grate it as necessary). Dice the julienned sun dried tomatoes and dice them up pretty fine. Reserve the oil.
In a large bowl (I put my bowl inside of a larger bowl with ice in between – sausage hates heat until it is time to cook) add all the ingredients and mix well. If the mix is a little dry, add some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes. Make a small patty and cook. Taste and adjust seasoning.
For adding to Red Gravy (spaghetti sauce) – You could theoretically make meatballs out of it but I like to brown it in a pan keeping it as much as possible in a marble-sized pieces. I drain the oil and add it when the gravy is done. You could easily add the entire recipe to the above sauce but I wouldn’t add any less than two-thirds (two pounds) of the sausage.
Note – I don’t have the attachment to the mixer that stuffs the sausage into the casing. If you do, use it. If not and you still want that “sausage” look, roll it up in wax paper and freeze for an hour or so. Then you can slice it into rounds and sauté or grill it. It will fall apart after it is cooked but if you are careful, you can keep it mostly in one piece.
Roasted Garlic
Source – me (though I’m sure I didn’t invent this)
Ingredients
Garlic (fresh)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Aluminum foil
Directions
Take piece of aluminum foil and form it into a cup that the garlic will sit in upside down (so that the root end is up). Form it right around the head of garlic. Remove the garlic and cut off the root end making sure to cut through all the cloves. Put the garlic back in its foil cup. Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees until the garlic starts to brown and the cloves push up out of the paper.
When the garlic is looking really fresh at the market, I buy a bunch and roast them all. For storage, just remove the cloves from the peel and put them in a bottle. Cover with extra virgin olive oil and store in the fridge. Don’t worry if the oil gets cloudy – that’s normal because of the cold. Once the oil warms up to room temp, it will look (and taste) normal again.
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