Grandma Maberino's Tomato Gravy

Grandma Maberino's Tomato Gravy
(“Tomato gravy” is what Italians from Brooklyn, NY call spaghetti sauce)

Ingredients (all amounts are approximate as my grandmother never measured):

3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
salt
ground black pepper
1 peeled clove of garlic
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1 32 oz can of tomato puree
1 32 oz can of peeled tomatoes in puree
2 tbs sugar (my mother is rolling over in her grave)

Preparation:

Peel and dice the onion roughly, allowing some larger pieces to remain. Brown the onion in the olive oil in the bottom of a large pot, adding a dash of salt and pepper as it browns. Add the garlic, garlic salt, oregano and basil before adding the the puree and the tomatoes in puree. Stir in the sugar. You may want to add more to taste later. Simmer in a loosely covered pot for 2 ½ hours.

Confession:

My grandmother and mother never made this recipe without meat. When I decided to make a meatless version, I realized that to have some texture, I would have to chop the onion roughly and substitute a can of tomatoes in puree for one of the cans of puree. For the authentic version, dice the onion more finely, brown one pound of mixed beef and pork, finely ground, and use a second can of puree instead of the tomatoes in puree.

Serving suggestion:

Serve over spaghetti #8 (never use angel hair or fine spaghetti) and add liberal amounts of grated cheese (mixed Romano and Parmesan). For “Spaghetti La Luna” top with liberal amounts of shredded mozzarella cheese and melt in the microwave for one minute on high.

Note: My friend Vito from Queens once told me taht they call this tomato gravy there too. Then we hugged and called each other “gumba.”

Recommendation: See the movie “Moonstruck” with Cher, Nicholas Cage, Danny Aiello, and Olympia Dukakis.