Macaroni and Meatballs

This is the meal that we had every single Sunday night when I was growing up. {minus the wine} Yes, we call it macaroni and meatballs. We call all pasta 'macaroni'. We also call the tomato sauce 'gravy'. Most Italian families are divided on this.  They're either sauce people or gravy people.  And they're adamant about it.  It's not an east coast thing or a New York thing...it's a family thing.  It's how you were raised. And, I was raised on this gravy. And it's amazing.

My Mom is not Italian, but her Italian cooking is perfection.  Truly, everything she cooks is perfection. My grandmother taught her how to cook Italian when she married my Dad. 

I don't love to cook. It's not my favorite thing to do. But, I have always wanted to learn how to make my Mom's gravy.  It's the key to so many of our family favorites like lasagna, chicken parm, stuffed shells, etc...  Truth is I've always been intimidated by this dish, because it's made in a pressure cooker.  I mean, just the name "pressure cooker" makes me nervous.

But, finally, after all these years...I spent the day with my Mom and she taught me her ways.  Sorry, this isn't a DIY, step-by-step recipe blog post...there is NO recipe.  It's a lot of "a little of this" and "a little of that" and "stir it, watch it, taste it". 

She was super patient with me...I wrote everything she said and did down...and took a lot of pictures.  It's a process...a labor of love.  There's a few hours of prep work that goes into this.  She makes her meatballs from scratch first...they're heavenly!

The meatballs, along with sausages are the base of the gravy.

 But the real magic is in my mom. ♥

It was a fun and delicious day.  Then came the real challenge: to make it at my house, by myself, the next week.

I carefully followed all of her directions...

and made a few {okay, a lot} of phone calls to Mom.  I faced my fears of the dreaded pressure cooker...

and, success!

Mangia!

So, I won't be making it every Sunday, but it will definitely be on the menu at least once a month.

Thanks, Mom for helping me continue the tradition!  Love you! 

Comments

[Nicole]

Just found your blog doing a google search for lunchbox notes, yours are beautiful. Will have to spend time reading through - my family makes Sunday dinner the same way...a little of this, a little of that, and a lot of love! Glad I found your blog. Thanks!