P
American
Sunday Gravy (Italian-American Ragù)
A large pot of tomato sauce — San Marzano or good quality crushed tomato, garlic, olive oil, basil, and oregano — in which multiple meats are braised simultaneously: meatballs (AM7-03), Italian sausage (sweet and/or hot), braciole (thin-pounded beef rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs, garlic, Parmesan, parsley, pine nuts, and bound with kitchen twine), and pork ribs or neck bones. The meats are browned first, then simmered in the sauce for 4-6 hours. The sauce darkens from bright red to deep brick-red. The meats are removed and served on a separate platter. The sauce goes over pasta (rigatoni, penne, or spaghetti). The gravy is both the sauce and the cooking method — the meats flavour the sauce and the sauce flavours the meats.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
2 × 800 g tins
San Marzano or good-quality crushed tomatoes
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
8 cloves
garlic
peeled and lightly crushed
Your own market
60 ml
olive oil
Your own market
1 small bunch
1 tsp
dried oregano
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the braciole
800 g
beef, thinly pounded
cut into individual portions suitable for rolling
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
dry breadcrumbs
Your own market
3 cloves
garlic
finely chopped
Your own market
40 g
Parmesan
finely grated
Your own market
15 g
flat-leaf parsley
finely chopped
Your own market
30 g
pine nuts
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
as needed
kitchen twine
for tying rolls
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the meats
1 batch
meatballs
prepared per AM7-03
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
600 g
Italian sausage (sweet and/or hot)
left whole or halved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
800 g
pork ribs or neck bones
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
To serve
600 g
rigatoni, penne, or spaghetti
cooked to order
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine the breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, Parmesan, parsley, and pine nuts. Lay the pounded beef flat; distribute the filling evenly across each piece. Roll tightly and tie at intervals with kitchen twine so the filling is fully enclosed. The roll should feel firm and hold its cylinder under light pressure.
2
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown every piece of meat — braciole, sausage, pork ribs or neck bones, and meatballs — on all sides without crowding. Do not rush: the fond developing on the pot floor is the flavour foundation of the entire gravy. Each batch is ready when it releases cleanly from the pot and shows a deep, even mahogany crust.
3
Remove all browned meat and set aside. Add the crushed garlic to the residual oil and cook briefly until fragrant but not coloured. Add the tomatoes, scraping up all the fond from the pot floor. Add the basil and oregano. Return the pork ribs or neck bones and the braciole to the pot — they require the longest cooking. The sauce at this stage is bright red and loose; it will cook down considerably.
4
This is where the dish lives or dies: bring the sauce to the gentlest possible simmer — intermittent bubbles at the surface, never a rolling boil — and maintain it without interruption for 4 to 6 hours. An aggressive boil will break the meatballs apart and shred the braciole before they reach tenderness. Add the sausages and meatballs in the final 1 to 1½ hours. Stir gently and occasionally, turning the meats with care. The gravy is ready when it has darkened from bright red to a deep brick-red and has reduced to a glossy, concentrated body that coats the spoon.
5
Perform the taste test: tear a piece of Italian bread and dip it into the simmering gravy. The bread should absorb a sauce that is full, rounded, and deeply savoury with no raw acidity remaining. Adjust seasoning at this point only.
6
Remove all meats to a separate warm platter. Snip and discard the twine from the braciole. Cook the pasta separately until just al dente. Dress the pasta with the gravy in the pot. Serve the dressed pasta first; bring the platter of meats to the table alongside.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes, hand-rolled braciole with a Sicilian-inflected filling (pine nuts, family-specific additions), heritage-breed pork ribs, and housemade meatballs per AM7-03 with the best available beef.
02
Estate — Good-quality crushed tomatoes, properly pounded beef braciole tied with care, a mix of sweet and hot Italian sausage from a trusted butcher, and meatballs made to the linked recipe.
03
Market — Crushed tomatoes of reliable provenance, supermarket Italian sausage, and pork ribs in place of neck bones; braciole filling kept to the stated core of breadcrumbs, garlic, Parmesan, parsley, and pine nuts.
04
House — Any good tinned tomato, a single sausage type, and whichever cuts are available; the method — long simmer, browned meats, gentle heat — remains non-negotiable regardless of rung.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The sauce has shifted from bright red to deep brick-red and coats the back of a spoon with a glossy, concentrated body.
◇Sight. Each piece of browned meat shows a deep, even mahogany crust and releases cleanly from the pot before it is set aside.
◇Touch. The tied braciole rolls feel firm and hold their cylinder shape without looseness before browning begins.
◇Smell. After 4 to 6 hours, the gravy has lost all sharp, raw tomato note and carries a rounded, deep, meat-enriched aroma.
◇Where it lives or dies. The simmer must remain a gentle, intermittent bubble for the full 4 to 6 hours — a boil destroys the meatballs, shreds the braciole, and prevents the sauce from concentrating into its characteristic deep brick-red body.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
Woodford Reserve Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
Sourced through Provenance