INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
  • 7 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 pounds beef top round, thinly sliced by a butcher for braciole
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage, halved crosswise
  • 1 pound baby back pork ribs, cut into 3- to 4-rib pieces, or pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
  • 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 pounds large tubular pasta (such as rigatoni or tortiglioni)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Spread out breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and let sit uncovered at room temperature until dried out, about 12 hours.
  2. Combine breadcrumbs, Pecorino, parsley, red pepper flakes, paprika, 1 chopped garlic clove, and 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium bowl.
  3. Trim beef slices into 6x2” pieces; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each slice with about 2 Tbsp. breadcrumb mixture, roll up, and secure with a toothpick or twine; set braciole aside. Set remaining breadcrumb mixture aside.
  4. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and cook sausage, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 5–8 minutes. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet.
  5. Season ribs with salt and pepper; cook in same pot until browned on all sides, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet with sausage. Cook reserved braciole in pot, turning occasionally, until browned, 5–8 minutes; transfer to same baking sheet.
  6. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook onion, anchovy, and remaining garlic in pot, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 8–10 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until slightly darkened in color, 5–8 minutes.
  7. Add crushed and whole tomatoes, crushing whole tomatoes with your hands; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, 1–1½ hours.
  8. Add sausage, ribs, braciole, and any accumulated juices on baking sheet to sauce. Cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally and skimming surface as needed, until meat is very tender (rib meat should be falling off the bone), 2½–3 hours. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
  9. Just before serving, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain.
  10. Toss pasta in a large bowl with a little of the sauce and top with reserved breadcrumb mixture. Remove bones from ribs and remove toothpicks from braciole. Serve braciole, ribs, sausage, and remaining sauce with pasta alongside.

DO AHEAD: Breadcrumbs can be dried out 5 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature. Sauce can be cooked 2 days ahead; cover and chill. Gently reheat sauce, covered, before cooking pasta.

What not to do

There are a few non-negotiables when it comes to this weekend staple: It must contain (good) tomatoes, and it absolutely needs to make the entire kitchen smell like your nonna’s house. Whether you add meat or not is up to you (“If there’s meat, it’s called gravy,” says Brad Leone, BA’s test kitchen manager). As someone who knows his way around both the kitchen and a stockpot of simmering tomatoes, Leone abides by the rules of Sunday sauce. Follow his advice, avoid these common mistakes, and you’re on your way to weekend supper perfection.

Using a Poor-Quality Pot

Yes, the pot matters just as much as the ingredient that go into it. Says Leone, “Use a heavy, thick pot, like an enameled cast-iron or a Dutch oven.” Avoid thin or flimsy material, like aluminum, which gets screaming hot quickly, and can scorch your ingredients.

Sweating the Onions and Garlic Too Hard

Yes, you want a touch of golden color on your garlic and onions, but start out too hot and heavy with the flame and you’ll burn those aromatics. Get too much color on the garlic and onions and you’re building a sauce that’s burnt in flavor, rather than caramelized and slightly sweet. Take things low and slow—you have all the time in the world to properly sweat your onions (well, at least until Monday morning).

Not Using Fresh Ingredients

Garlic powder? No. Bottled, granulated onion? No. Freeze-dried flakes of basil? No, no, and no. As for the tomatoes, Leone says to always use fresh, ripe tomatoes when available. If they’re in season, go for ’em. If the only fresh tomatoes available are hard, pale, and flavorless, spring for canned. “The one defining factor in Sunday sauce is good tomatoes,” he explains. One note on the herbs: Not only should you choose fresh over dried, but you should only add them at the end, once the sauce is finished. Put them in too early and they’ll lose their vibrant, bright flavor—and become dull or black in color.

Skipping the Deglazing Step

“I like to add a splash of wine to the onions and garlic, once they’re cooked, to deglaze the pan. I recommend drinking some too,” says Leone. Whether you use wine or stock or water, definitely don’t skip this step. Pouring a splash of liquid into the hot pan and scraping up the golden “browned bits” with a wooden spoon adds hard-earned flavor to your sauce. Besides, if you don’t deglaze, you run the risk of overcooking and burning those little browned bits—which can make the whole sauce taste “off.”

Overloading the Sauce

“It’s not a stew,” says Leone. “Don’t treat it like one.” That means keeping things simple. While a great stew or soup is packed with tons of treats like potatoes, carrots, turnips, garlic, onions, beef, and barley, that whole “more is better” mentality doesn’t translate to a Sunday sauce. The difference here is that a stew is a meal in and of itself, while the sauce is meant to accompany another element, like polenta, good bread, or pasta. Sunday sauce is definitely the main event, but it shouldn’t be so bossy that it overshadows the supporting players. Choose one to three great ingredients to enhance your sauce and let them shine. Some examples that work in a sauce are: osso bucco, oxtail, ground beef, ground pork, ground veal, sausage, bacon, short ribs, or even pork chops…yes, Leone likes to put pork chops in his Sunday sauce. (“Use thick-cut,” he advises.) Avoid overly gamey meats like lamb, which has such a strong flavor that it can pummel the other ingredients into submission. In any instance, you’ll want to sear the meat before you add the aromatics. Get some color and a nice crust on it, then remove it from the pot. Use the rendered fat to cook the onions and garlic, then add the meat back in with the tomatoes, stock, and any other ingredients, and let it finish cooking in the simmering sauce.

Making Too Small a Batch

Between the chopping, sweating, simmering, and stirring, there’s a lot of time and effort invested in a Sunday sauce. While it’s a great ritual, few of us have the time to repeat it every weekend. So make things easier on yourself (and set yourself up for easy weeknight meals, too), and make as big a batch as your pot will allow. It freezes beautifully, too. Just be sure to pack the leftovers in many small containers rather than one large one—that way, you can pull out exactly the amount you need, rather than thawing the entire batch.