By a show of hands, who is in love with their slow cooker? Do you like to get everything going in the morning, set and forget it? Or let’s talk about an outdoor smoker. If I actually had an outdoor space I’d probably need a second fridge or freezer for everything I’d be smoking out there.
#SundaySupper is taking things low and slow this week and I’m thrilled to be hosting. Whether you use a slow cooker, a smoker or just simmering away on your stove top for hours at a time – slow cooking is a fantastic method. It lets you take an inexpensive cut of meat and make it meltingly tender or cook up large batches for future meals.
Speaking of future meals, this Italian gravy will feed you for a week or you can portion it out and freeze it for later. I chose to cook it on my stove (mostly because my slow cooker is somewhere in storage) but either method would work. Your house will smell amazing and frankly, you could probably fool someone into thinking your Italian Grandma came over and sat over the stove stirring away all day while this cooked.
Loaded with 2 types of meat, sausage, meatballs and a hearty sauce you really can’t go wrong. Also despite the name of dish, go ahead and cook it any day of the week. 🙂
Ingredients
- 1/2lb ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon parmigiana cheese
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 4 links (about 1 pound) sweet and spicy Italian sausage, cut into thirds
- 1/2lb boneless pork butt or shoulder
- 1lb boneless short ribs
- 2 28oz cans peeled whole tomatoes
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 box rigatoni pasta
- fresh ricotta, fresh basil and parmigiana cheese to serve on the side
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, parmigiana cheese and garlic. Form into golf ball sized meatballs and set aside. You should get about 5 meatballs from 1/2 pound of meat.
- In a large dutch oven over medium heat, drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil and brown the sausages on all sides. Remove from the pot.
- Add the meatballs to the pot and brown on all sides. Remove.
- Pat the pork butt and short ribs dry with a paper towel and generously season both sides with kosher salt and pepper.
- In batches, brown the pork and short ribs on both sides. Remove.
- Drain excess grease from the dutch oven.
- While the meat is browning, in a large bowl, crush the whole tomatoes either with your hands (recommended) or with a potato masher. Reserve all juice.
- Add the short ribs, pork, sausages and meatballs back into the dutch oven (I suggest placing the short ribs & pork on the bottom and meatballs on top) and add the tomatoes to the pot.
- Stir in the garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
- Cover the dutch oven, lower the temperature and simmer on low for 4-5 hours or until the meat easily shreds. Stir occasionally while the gravy simmers.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- To serve, cook the rigatoni according the package directions and spoon a healthy serving of gravy over the top of cooked rigatoni.
- Include fresh ricotta, chopped basil and parmigiana cheese on the side to top.
We have such a fantastic lineup of low and slow recipes this week. Make sure you check them all out below!
Low & Slow Breads & Starters:
- Asiago Meatballs from Daily Dish Recipes
- Slow Cooker Bread: Easy Dinner Rolls from Growing Up Gabel
Low & Slow Mains:
- Apricot-Mustard Baked Ham from Healthy.Delicious.
- Braniya {Lamb and Eggplant Tajine} from MarocMama
- Brisket from Sustainable Dad
- Brisket with Ale BBQ Sauce from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
- Carnitas from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Dairyfree Chicken and Mushroom Ragout from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
- Dry Rubbed Smoked Back Ribs from Noshing With The Nolands
- French Dip Sandwiches from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Fried Beef Ribs from The Urban Mrs
- Italian Beef from Curious Cuisiniere
- Italian Sunday Gravy from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Jambalaya from Gourmet Drizzles
- Minestrone Soup from Peanut Butter and Peppers
- Osso Buco from Webicurean
- Pork and Sauerkraut Sandwiches from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Rice, Bean and Vegetable Casserole from Happy Baking Days
- Salsa Chicken from Momma’s Meals
- Sauerbraten from Magnolia Days
- Slow Cooker Chana Masala from Small Wallet, Big Appetite
- Slow-Cooker Mole from girlichef
- Slow Cooked Pork Sausage and Onions from Family Foodie
- Sweet Pork from Table for Seven
Low & Slow Sides:
- Caramelized Garlic in the Crock-Pot from Shockingly Delicious
- Slow Roasted Balsamic Tomatoes from The Wimpy Vegetarian
Low & Slow Desserts:
- 8-hour Cheesecake with Roasted Grapes (gluten free) from Vintage Kitchen
- Gluten Free Slow Cooker Glazed Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Blueberries and Blessings
- Slow-Cooked Gooey Pina Colada Cake from Juanita’s Cocina
- Slow Cooker Pineapple Coconut Rice Pudding from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
Wine Pairing Recommendations for Low & Slow Food from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
Don’t forget to join the #SundaySupper chat on Twitter Sunday to discuss cooking low and slow! We’ll tweet throughout the day and share our delicious recipes. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm EST. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more delicious recipes and food photos.
Check out the Food & Wine Conference sponsored by Sunday Supper! Being held July 19th – 21st in beautiful, sunny Orlando, FL. It’s a must for food bloggers. Find out more here ? Food & Wine Conference
This is an italian feast of the best kind Susan! Sausage, pork and meat, wow, I can eat this for days. Thanks for hosting today!
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Beef + pork + short ribs + sausage all simmering away together = a freaking awesome recipe as far as I’m concerned. Loving everything in this Susan.
When you said gravy this is not at all what I pictured….this is so much better! Those meatballs in a flavorful meaty gravy over pasta sounds just about perfect!
Yes! True Italian’s (not that I am one, but I work with plenty!) call red sauce, gravy. It would be wrong if I’d call this sauce!
Italian-Americans, especially in the north of the States, call red sauce “gravy”, not Italians. Anyway, it looks amazing!! I love the variety of meats in this sauce. I’m bookmarking this one!
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Oh yes, I could live on this for a week! Thanks for hosting, hon!
Holy moly this looks delicious!!! Thanks for the fab hosting job, and thanks for sharing this gravy, too!
Susan, this looks absolutely fabulous. I love all the wonderful flavors! Perfect recipe! Thanks for hosting this week! 🙂
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I love that you call it gravy… it is always such a debate! Thank you for hosting this week’s #SundaySupper Event… all the recipes are just amazing!
Mmmmmm…this is stick-to-your-ribs good! Seriously, I could hunker down with a big ol’ serving of this right now, it sounds amazing. Thank you for hosting this week, Susan. 🙂
I once heard someone refer to Italian gravy and I had no idea what they were talking about. This looks fabulous, I will definitely be giving it a try.
Yum! Would it be wrong to eat this for breakfast, because I really would. I don’t really make Italian food to often, but I really want to try this.
Mmmmm Italian gravyyyy, this looks great.
I seriously need a new, better slow cooker. Mine is sorta a piece
What a nice and simple recipe! Looks amazing!
This looks incredible! I’m always dying to try new sauces!! I’ll have to give it a shot. I’m in love with my slow cooker! Thanks for hosting such an awesome event Susan!! 🙂
This looks so good over pasta! Thanks for hosting Susan!
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What an amazing recipe. I can almost smell this cooking!
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I think I’ll skip the pasta and just take that bowl! Yum that looks so good.
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I was not expecting that when you said gravy, but boy does it look good!
Susan – I cannot wait for your Italian Gravy to make an appearance at our little green house 🙂 What do you think about making it in the oven instead of on the stove? What temperature do you think? I was thinking about making it in my cast iron pot…Thank you also so much for hosting today!
My hand is raised high for loving my slow cooker too!!! Susan, this recipe is to die for… I can’t wait to try this!!! And thanks for hosting this week- what a fun theme 😉
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A few years ago I tore out a recipe for Italian Sunday Gravy from a magazine. It intrigued me because I couldn’t quite figure out what it was! Now I know and I am definitely going to make this some Sunday for our family dinner!
Thank you so much for hosting and for this delicious recipe!!!
I am so addicted to my crock pot, so, I am raising my hand 🙂 Love this recipe, definitely going on my to try list!
Mom’s gonna go nuts! She’s been looking for a good gravy recipe
Italian gravy is the BEST. I confess I just started using my slow cooker. We got it as a wedding gift 7 years ago, so that’s a bit embarrassing. But now I’m hooked. Thanks for this great recipe, and thanks for hosting this week of fantastic recipes. I’m having such fun going through them all now.
If it weren’t a bazillion degrees out, I’d make this tomorrow!!! Sounds incredible!!! PS…thanks for hosting!
Oh, that looks heavenly. I love slow cooked dishes and this looks so good and comforting!
Just reading your ingredient list, I can tell that this would be a fabulously rich sauce! I love this theme! So many great ideas. Thank you for hosting! I only wish I could have taken part (I just got home from two weeks of traveling.) as I do LOVE my crock pot.
I’ve never heard of this, but it was not what I was expecting for gravy! It sounds delicious and I’m excited to give it a try soon! Thanks for hosting!
So many flavors from the pork, beef, short ribs AND sausage! True italian gravy and it looks amazing!!
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My goal in life is to be an Italian grandmother, even though I’m not Italian, and I don’t have grandkids (or even kids yet). But still, I want to be one, cooking up stuff like this.
Thanks for hosting SS this week – sorry Blogger made me a deadbeat and didn’t actually post my post when I told it to 🙁 Blarg.
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Yumm… something about gravy is just so warm and comforting. Piling it with meat makes it even moreso. I love slow cooker meals!
This sounds totally delicious! I will be trying this very very soon 😀
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