Sunday Gravy aka Bolognese

I've invited a bunch of people over on Sunday for a big Italian dinner so I will be busy all week cooking for it.  The first thing I made was Sunday Gravy, also known as Bolognese sauce.  An old Italian lady taught me how to make this years ago.

Start by sauteing 1 large diced onion, 4 large cubed carrots and 5 stalks of celery diced in some olive oil or bacon grease until they soften.  Soak 1 cup of dry mushrooms in hot water until they soften and then mince them and strain the water.  Add them to the pot.  Add 1 pound of ground pork, 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of the sausage of your choice.  I used salt and pepper sausage.  Add 3 anchovies. and some diced pepperoni.  These little touches add tons of flavor.

 The key to this sauce is meat.  I added 1 browned and seasoned pork steak, 2 smoked pork chops and 6 smoked turkey necks.

Add 2 cups of a hearty red wine.

 Add 1 container of demi glace and 3 bay leaves.

 Add 4 large cans of crushed tomatoes.   San marco's are best. Add 1 large can of tomato paste.

 Add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of pepper.  You might add more of these later depending on taste.

 Add 2 tablespoons of oregano.

 Add 2 tablespoons of granulated garlic and 2 tablespoons of onion powder.  Add some fresh herbs.  I used winter savory, thyme and rosemary.  Grate in 2 tsp. of nutmeg.

 Place this covered in a 250 degree oven for 4-5 hours.  Stir occasionally.

After it's cooked, let it cool a bit in the pot and then remove the stems from the herbs, ditch the smoked meats and shred the pork steak and add it back to the sauce.  Make sure you get all of the bones out of the sauce.  Taste it and adjust seasoning if needed.  It will be rich and thick and have a wonderful sheen to it.  On Sunday I will add a bit of butter and a cup of cream and then reheat it and add cooked sausages and braciole to the pot.  I'll show the meal as it comes together.