Barbato tomato sauce + meatballs

Now I have to admit, I am a little scared to post this recipe. You see, my grandmother is Italian... and I know that that only makes me 1/4 Italian but my dad and grandfather are/were only children so the Italians are all I have on my dad's side. Now my grandma's brother is very serious about this recipe. My beloved Uncle Tony might literally whack me if I post this. I'm not sure he knows how to use the internet considering he is 70+ years old and really not the type to need this "new technology" (although he has a satellite dish he is quite fond of from what I hear)... but if he finds out I posted the sauce recipe, I'm really not sure what's going to happen. Hmm... should we try it? Oh what the heck, lets just put it out there...Now this isn't a really normal version of what people think of when they want tomato sauce - there is no basil or oregano or onion in it so it won't be like your jarred usual "American" sauce.

Barbato Sauce

Ingredients

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 c. olive oil

2 tsp. of granulated chicken stock

1 red or yellow bell pepper

2 celery stalks

2 c. cold water

56 oz. Pureed Tomatoes (they are sold in those big ole 28 oz. cans)

56 oz. water

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 C. of sugar (I only added 1/2 C. and will adjust later if I want it sweeter, the Barbatos like a sweet sauce - I prefer a little more tomato-y)

36 oz. of tomato paste (that's 3 12 oz. cans for you math geniuses like myself)

1. Heat the olive oil and garlic powder over medium-high heat until brown.

2. Add the granulated chicken stock, pepper, celery - give it a minute or two to start softening up. Yes, that is a University of Miami cutting board at right...

3. Add 2 cups of cold water and saute for 5-10 minutes

4. Add the cans of pureed tomatoes and the water. (Helpful hint: just refill the empty pureed tomato cans with water and add.... rinses them for recycling AND no measuring! Y'all better be recycling those aluminum cans or else! What would my dad say if you weren't recycling?)

5. Bring the mixture to a boil slowly, should take about 10-15 minutes

6. Turn down the heat and simmer for an hour

Now at this point, you have a choice - you can add the tomato paste, turn off the heat and let it stand....

OR............. you can continue on to the magical place where meatballs are added... (vegetarians, avert your gaze...I promise, I will do some good meat-free stuff ASAP, I'm down with meat-free meals)

Meatballs by the Barbatos

Ingredients

16 Club crackers

1/2 tsp. sweet basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic

1/4 tsp. oregano

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 c. Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

2. Oil a cookie sheet with a little olive oil -- please note, your cookie sheet MUST have a rim to keep some of the "juices" (fat) that runs off the meatballs. Also, because it would make a huge mess if these juices were running off onto your oven floor. Hellllo grease fire!

3. Take the crackers and spices and either: a. put them in a blender/food processor (if you own one/feel like getting it dirty) or b. put them in a freezer bag, seal it up and take a rolling pin/can/your hands and SMASH away! its an excellent stress reliever and I think you'll like it...

4. Add the meat, eggs and cheese to the bag if it'll fit or use a bowl if that makes you happy too... and mash it all together so its well blended.

5. Form the meat into......... you guessed it.......... balls. I would say golf ball sized, but I am terrible at golf so maybe you could say beer pong ball sized. Note: don't overwork the balls, the more you squish them the tougher they get. You want them to be light and airy and delicious, so just roll em around lightly and be done with it.

6. Bake those beauties for 30 minutes or until they are brown

7. Add the meatballs AND the juice into the aforementioned sauce and cook for an hour... or four. It really doesn't matter. I don't know about you guys, but I think sauce/chili/soup always tastes better the next day. Anyway, just let that simmer away until you're almost ready to eat, then proceed to #8.

8. Turn off the heat and add 3 cans of tomato paste and let

the sauce stand... until you dump it all over some delicious al dente pasta or maybe even a hoagie roll stuffed with meatballs and possibly some sauted peppers and onions.

Wow, I totally didn't take a picture of the final product. I served these puppies up with some linguine and a little green/Italian squash that I sauted in olive oil and then when it was nearly done I added some minced garlic and a little Parmesan cheese. The meal was a success, Chris and I didn't speak the whole meal because we were too busy happily chomping away.