Ode to the Sopranos ... Now thats a good gravy !

Since my husband and I are now on the 5th season of the Sopranos and all they do in that show is eat amazing Italian food, whack people, and make lots and lots of dirty money I figured I could try my hand at making some delicious Italian food considering the alternatives. Food is such a central part of that show that they frequently discuss recipes and in almost every shot in a house has some sort of pasta or other carbohydrate based dish that is lying around for people to munch on.

So I decided to make a delicious marinara (or gravy) and some awesome meatballs. I must say that I have Crepes of Wrath to thank for this delicious recipe.

-------I'll start with the recipe for the meatballs. First you take 2 slices of white bread and cut off the crusts. Put them in the bottom of a bowl and soak with 1/4 cup of milk. This may seem like a weird step, but trust me it is totally worth it. It makes the meatballs so moist and flavorful. Then you put in all your other ingredients.

-1/2 onion minced

-1egg

-1 tbs of parsley

-3 cloves of garlic minced

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp of pepper

-1/4 cup of grated Parmesan

-3 tbs of olive oil

Then mix up the ingredients with your hands lightly. Then form into 2 inch diameter meatballs. Then sear on all sides until they are almost all the way cooked through like in the pictures below.

Then you start the gravy !!! You will need ... oh and before I forgot to mention I doubled the recipe so I could freeze some of the sauce....it was totally worth it!!! If you want to make less just cut the recipe back in half.

Place in a large pot the following items

- 2 28 ounce cans of whole tomatoes. Add the liquid from one of the cans and drain the other one.

- 1 cup of white wine

- 1 onion minced

- 4 cloves of garlic minced

- 3 tsp of salt

- 2 tsp of pepper

- 6 tsp of parsley

- 4 tsp of oregano

- 2 tsp of basil

- 1/2 to 1 tsp of red pepper flakes (depending on your taste - it does not make the sauce hot it just gives it a very warm peppery flavor)

Then you will need to puree the sauce. You can leave it a little chunky if that is what you like or you can puree it totally to make a marinara type sauce. You can do this in your food processor or the best way is a stick blender - that way you dont have to remove it from the pot. Either way its delicious!

Then put your meatballs in the sauce to simmer for a little while. I think I let the whole sauce mixture simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Just think though the longer it sits the better. Just think What Would Carmela Soprano do????

Once your pasta is cooked return it to the pot, put it on low, then add some of the pureed sauce about 2-3 ladels. Stir this around for about 3-5 minutes so the pasta can absorb the sauce's goodness. This is a tip right from Ralphie Cifaretto

Put a little pasta on your place and top with your sauce and meatball mixture then some Parmesan cheese.

If you are a little carb-conscious choose some low carb pasta. Also think of all the sodium and added preservatives you are saving by making the sauce and meatballs from scratch.

This meal is definitively something to be proud of. Take a Sunday afternoon and bring out your Italian side!!!

Serve with a salad with lots of veggies in it and you have yourself a complete meal that would make anyone happy !!!

Enjoy !!!!