This sauce is traditionally simmered for hours, until a finger’s width of oil floats on top. Typically that oil was then reincorporated into the sauce. In true Italian family style, pass platters of the meat with some sauce spooned over them, and bowls of pasta dressed with the sauce around the table. Buon appetito.

　　

Ingredients

makes 12 servings

　　1/3 cup olive oil

　　4 small onions

　　4 cloves garlic

　　three 35-ounce cans tomatoes (crushed)

　　1 cup red wine

　　4 bay leaves

　　

Step 1

Prepare the braciole as described above, increasing the ingredients for the sauce to the following amounts: 1/3 cup olive oil, 4 small onions, 4 cloves garlic, three 35-ounce cans tomatoes (crushed), 1 cup red wine, and 4 bay leaves.

　　

Step 2

After the braciole have been simmering in the sauce for about 1 1/2 hours, add 2 pounds of hot or sweet Italian sausages (or a mixture of both), poked all over with a fork and browned. Prepare meatballs (page 135), brown them as directed, and add them to the pot after the braciole have been simmering for about 2 hours.

　　

Step 3

When the meats are cooked, transfer them to platters, spoon a little sauce over them, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Cook 2 pounds rigatoni according to package directions, drain well, and return to the cooking pot. Add enough of the sauce to coat the rigatoni lightly, season with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, and transfer the sauced pasta to a large platter. Pass any remaining sauce and some grated cheese separately.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.