sunday gravy!!

Before I met my husband, my idea of a good Italian dinner was spaghetti and meatballs with Ragu or Prego spaghetti sauce from the jar.  My husband's father was Italian and his mother taught my mother-in-law how to make the best Sunday gravy.  For those who do not know what this is - it is a ton of meats(meatballs. sausage, neckbones, and maybe some brasciole) simmering for hours in a homemade sauce served over rigatoni with Ricotta Cheese and maybe some parmesan (and sometimes a salad or side of broccoli with garlic and oil), and, of course, some nice Italian bread.  On holidays, we would add an antipasto as an appetizer.

Of course, that's a lot of gluten - between the pasta and the breadcrumbs in the meatballs and brasciole. So after a lot of trials and errors, I finally came up with a pretty-close-to-the-family-recipe version.  Brasciole recipe is from Giada DeLaurentis.  I just use Aleia's GF Fuggedaboutit! Italian Bread Crumbs (the best I have found!) and omit the sauce since I make my own version.  The meatballs are a combination of Organic Ground Beef and Pork (1 pound each) combined with 1/2 cup of the same GF  bread crumbs, and 1 egg(combined with 1/3 cup milk).  Roll into balls and bake for 25 minutes on a Silicone lined baking sheet.

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Before browning the brasciole, I brown the Italian Sausage (I prefer sweet) in my 3 quart Le Cruset pot, and place them in  a slowcooker with the meatballs.  I brown the brasciole in the same pot, place it on top of the meat in the slowcooker and then do the deglazing with the wine (I used red instead of white).  I then add 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, 2 teaspoons of oregano and a tablespoon of basil.  After cooking for about a minute, I add 3 cans of crushed tomatoes (I prefer Muir's with basil).  Let this simmer for 5 minutes and then pour over the meat.  Cook on low in the slowcooker for 7-8 hours.  Serve over GF pasta (still working on the best pasta for this, but I have used the gluten free penne from Barilla, Ronzoni and this hard to find pasta from Italy (La Fabbrica Della pasta Senza Glutine).  The last one is expensive, but is the closest to regular pasta.  Place a dollop of ricotta cheese on top and some freshly grated parmesan before serving.  I serve this often times with a Caprese salad - Fresh mozzarella and tomato slices alternated with some balsamic glaze, pesto and basil drizzled on top.  My family doesn't really notice a difference and  I don't even miss the bread!!

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