New Jersey Sunday Sauce & Meatballs
Pasta and meatballs in a rich red sugo sauce has become a weekend tradition for many Italian-Americans in New Jersey, USA.
The Sunday sauce tradition is well-embedded in New Jersey-Italian culture. Italian immigrants brought a tight-knit family dining tradition to the American East Coast which still brings together grandparents and grandchildren to enjoy heritage recipes and dishes. A lot of these traditional Italian dishes have transformed with the American palate - some now unrecognisable to true Italians - forming ‘Italian-American’ cuisine. Despite the charm of checkered tablecloths, twirling forks of spaghetti and Tony Soprano, this cuisine is a key foundation block in modern American food and has served somewhat as a mascot for modern American culture around the world. This recipe bottles the delicious essence of that. A smooth, uncomplicated tomato sauce, or ‘sugo’ as known to southern Italian diasporas, with a savoury aromatic base of onions, garlic, carrot, celery and bacon. No chopping needed - it’s all done in a blender. Even though all kinds and cuts of meat are known to be cooked in a New Jersey ‘Sunday sauce’, meatballs add universal fun. The greatest hack: these meatballs aren’t fried. They’re dropped straight into the sauce and poached. This creates tender, seamless meatballs that marry the sauce beautifully - plus it’s much less mess to clean up! It’s what Tony Soprano always wanted after all. Let’s go!
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4-6x)
DROP MEATBALLS
800g mince beef/pork/veal or a mixture - around 12% fat is ideal
2x slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 tsps salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsps onion powder/granules
2 tsps garlic powder/granules
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
TOMATO ‘SUGO’ SAUCE
2x onions
8x cloves garlic
1x stick celery
1x carrot
75g diced pancetta/bacon - optional
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons tomato puree/paste
800ml strained tomatoes/passata
250ml chicken/beef/vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano, or to taste
4x bay leaves
2 tsps salt, or to taste
2 tsps sugar, or to taste
50g butter
WALKTHROUGH
First, let’s make the sugo sauce. We’ll make an aromatic paste. Into a blender/food processor, add 2x onions, 8x cloves garlic, 1x stick celery, 1x carrot and 75g diced pancetta/bacon. Blend the mixture until you have a paste. Set aside.
Place a large pot onto medium heat. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil followed by the 4 tablespoons of tomato paste. Fry the tomato paste until it looks curdled, slightly darkened and the olive oil is stained deep red.
Add the aromatic paste we made earlier. Fry this mixture for 2-3 minutes, covered with a lid, until softened.
Add the 800g strained tomatoes/passata along with 250ml of stock, if using. Add the 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp dried oregano and 4x bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. The sauce can simmer while we prepare the meatballs.
Now we’ll prepare the meatballs. Into a large mixing bowl, add the 800g of minced beef/pork/veal along with 2 tsps salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2 tsps onion powder, 2 tsps garlic powder, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 tsp dried thyme. Take 2x slices of white bread, crusts removed, and soak them in water until they are saturated with liquid. Add the wet bread to the meat mixture and mix well - ideally with hands - until you have a smooth meatball mixture with no visible chunks of bread.
Using wet hands, roll the meat mixture into meatballs. You can make any size you prefer, but a ping-pong ball is the best guide. Once rolled, set the meatballs onto a plate.
To cook the meatballs, gently drop them into the pot of simmering sugo sauce. Place the meatballs around the pan ensuring you use as much of the free space as you can. If some of the meatballs are still peeking above the surface of the sauce, that’s fine.
Place a lid on the pan and simmer the meatballs for 15 minutes, cooking them through. Remove the lid and simmer the sauce for further 60-90 minutes, until it’s rich, thickened and the flavours of the meat and the sauce are well-acquainted.
To bind the sauce, add a 50g piece of butter and stir it into the sauce until completely melted. This will add a richer mouthfeel and flavour.
Taste the sauce for seasoning - make adjustments with salt, sugar or vinegar if needed.
To serve, spoon the sauce and meatballs over your favourite pasta. I recommend cooking the sauce with the pasta for one minute before serving, to help the sauce bind to the pasta. Serve in a dinner-bowl with plenty of parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
