Kristine Morfino is a 24 year old who grew up with a very large Italian family. When she is not working or busy with her school work, she enjoys trying out new recipes, and spending time with her family. Her favorite hobby is spending time with her nieces and nephew, and playing with her dog. Her tight knit family enjoys gathering around the dinner table every Sunday for a nice dish of Sunday Sauce and Meatballs that is so deliciously prepared by her mother. Her goal is to learn her mothers recipe of Sunday Sauce, so she can continue the traditional dish for her family in the future.
Growing up in an Italian household, the best day of the week was always Sunday. Sunday mornings the aroma of onions, and garlic simmering only meant one thing; mom was cooking her famous Sunday sauce. Walking downstairs to the smell of the sauce still makes my mouth water. Sunday’s also meant that the entire family would be over, and dinner would be served as early as two o’clock in the afternoon.
At an early age my mom had to begin cooking because she grew up in a household where her mother was ill. Her mother taught her several dishes, but she also learned many recipes from my father’s mother. Both set of grandparents were very Italian, so Italian dishes were always her specialty. Because she was taught so early how to prepare so many dishes, it is hard to think of just one that makes my mouth water. Sunday Sauce is one of my top favorites, because Italian food and macaroni is my favorite food, I can never have enough!
Growing up, my parents always learned that Sunday’s were for the family. This was a day that the entire family would spend their afternoons gathered around the dinner table, eating until they couldn’t move and catching up with family about their past week. This is something that they have passed on to my brother’s and I and Sunday’s is still a day where we known it is Sunday sauce for dinner.
When eating the sauce it is always filled with tons of flavor, which always makes the house smell so delicious. However, time is a very important factor in this recipe. The first step to the sauce is to simmer the chopped garlic and chopped onions together with a little olive oil until the onions start to brown. This fills the sauce with tons of flavor. After the garlic and onions have browned you then add cans of tomato puree, and tomato paste. I come from a fairly large family, so when my mom prepares the sauce she tends to use three large cans of the puree, and two cans of the tomato paste, just to help the sauce thicken. Before the sauce is left alone, chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper and oregano are also added. The sauce is then left on the stove to simmer, and with the delicious aroma’s filling your house, it is hard not to sample any with a piece of fresh Italian bread, or alone in a bowl.
When you think of Sunday sauce, you think of all the meats that can be found. My mom always prepared Sunday sauce with Italian sausage, sweet and hot, and her delicious meatballs. After she prepared the sauce and let it simmer, she always let me help prepare the meatballs, which was one of my favorite activities to do together. To prepare the meatballs, in a large bowl she combined lean ground meat, grated cheese, fresh basil, chopped onions, garlic, salt and pepper, eggs and breadcrumbs. Getting to stir this mixture with my hands was always one of my favorite parts as a child, because of the cold, gooey feeling. After this mixture was combined, it is rolled into a ball shape, and placed on a pan with oil that has been heating in the oven. They are then placed side by side on this pan, and put in the oven at 400 degrees, until they are crispy, turning them once while cooking. After about an hour of cooking the meatballs will be ready to take out of the oven. It is important that you let the cool completely before picking them up. Not only will they be very hot, but they will also fall apart. Once they have cooled, they are free to sample and put into the Sunday sauce.
Because there are so many meats that are found in Sunday sauce, that can be a meal in itself. However, my family always has it accompanied by some sort of pasta. Whether it be penne, raviolis, lasagna, chicken parm, or eggplant parm there is always enough food to have leftovers for the week. Although I love Italian food and the sauce, my favorite thing about this meal is the history it has within my family. I always felt Sunday’s my family was brought closer together, and we were able to fill each other in on our lives, over this meal. Not to mention it is great comfort food for the cold winter months.
Now that I am older, I like to spend my time helping my mom in the kitchen, and this is now a meal I am able to prepare on my own. I hope to one day be able to pass it onto my children, and prepare it with them just as I use to help my mom in the kitchen.
Growing up in an Italian household, the best day of the week was always Sunday. Sunday mornings the aroma of onions, and garlic simmering only meant one thing; mom was cooking her famous Sunday sauce. Walking downstairs to the smell of the sauce still makes my mouth water. Sunday’s also meant that the entire family would be over, and dinner would be served as early as two o’clock in the afternoon.
At an early age my mom had to begin cooking because she grew up in a household where her mother was ill. Her mother taught her several dishes, but she also learned many recipes from my father’s mother. Both set of grandparents were very Italian, so Italian dishes were always her specialty. Because she was taught so early how to prepare so many dishes, it is hard to think of just one that makes my mouth water. Sunday Sauce is one of my top favorites, because Italian food and macaroni is my favorite food, I can never have enough!
Growing up, my parents always learned that Sunday’s were for the family. This was a day that the entire family would spend their afternoons gathered around the dinner table, eating until they couldn’t move and catching up with family about their past week. This is something that they have passed on to my brother’s and I and Sunday’s is still a day where we known it is Sunday sauce for dinner.
When eating the sauce it is always filled with tons of flavor, which always makes the house smell so delicious. However, time is a very important factor in this recipe. The first step to the sauce is to simmer the chopped garlic and chopped onions together with a little olive oil until the onions start to brown. This fills the sauce with tons of flavor. After the garlic and onions have browned you then add cans of tomato puree, and tomato paste. I come from a fairly large family, so when my mom prepares the sauce she tends to use three large cans of the puree, and two cans of the tomato paste, just to help the sauce thicken. Before the sauce is left alone, chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper and oregano are also added. The sauce is then left on the stove to simmer, and with the delicious aroma’s filling your house, it is hard not to sample any with a piece of fresh Italian bread, or alone in a bowl.
When you think of Sunday sauce, you think of all the meats that can be found. My mom always prepared Sunday sauce with Italian sausage, sweet and hot, and her delicious meatballs. After she prepared the sauce and let it simmer, she always let me help prepare the meatballs, which was one of my favorite activities to do together. To prepare the meatballs, in a large bowl she combined lean ground meat, grated cheese, fresh basil, chopped onions, garlic, salt and pepper, eggs and breadcrumbs. Getting to stir this mixture with my hands was always one of my favorite parts as a child, because of the cold, gooey feeling. After this mixture was combined, it is rolled into a ball shape, and placed on a pan with oil that has been heating in the oven. They are then placed side by side on this pan, and put in the oven at 400 degrees, until they are crispy, turning them once while cooking. After about an hour of cooking the meatballs will be ready to take out of the oven. It is important that you let the cool completely before picking them up. Not only will they be very hot, but they will also fall apart. Once they have cooled, they are free to sample and put into the Sunday sauce.
Because there are so many meats that are found in Sunday sauce, that can be a meal in itself. However, my family always has it accompanied by some sort of pasta. Whether it be penne, raviolis, lasagna, chicken parm, or eggplant parm there is always enough food to have leftovers for the week. Although I love Italian food and the sauce, my favorite thing about this meal is the history it has within my family. I always felt Sunday’s my family was brought closer together, and we were able to fill each other in on our lives, over this meal. Not to mention it is great comfort food for the cold winter months.
Now that I am older, I like to spend my time helping my mom in the kitchen, and this is now a meal I am able to prepare on my own. I hope to one day be able to pass it onto my children, and prepare it with them just as I use to help my mom in the kitchen.
Kristine,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your story on Sunday Sauce. It was very colorful and full to the brim with description and details of how it was prepared and the time you spent with your mom preparing