Sunday Sauce

Name: Sunday Sauce
Cook time: 3 h 30 min
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch chunks; Kosher salt and black pepper; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed; 1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, or a combination; 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped; 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled; 1/3 cup red wine; 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes; 3 basil sprigs; 1 pound uncooked homemade or store-bought meatballs; 1 1/2 pounds tubular or long noodles, like rigatoni or spaghetti; Grated Parmesan or pecorino, for serving

Instructions

Cook:3h 30min

In many Italian American households, Sunday means there’s red sauce simmering all day on the stove. It might be called sauce, sugo or gravy, and surely every family makes it differently, but the result is always a tomato sauce rich with meat. This recipe (which you can also make in a slow cooker) follows a classic route of using shreddy pork shoulder, Italian sausage and meatballs. Once the sauce is done, coat pasta in the sauce, spoon some meat on top and share it with the whole family alongside a green salad, crusty bread and red wine. The sauce can keep refrigerated for up to one week and frozen for up to three months.

Updated at: Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:36:53 GMT