This is the most delicious spaghetti sauce or as we know it, sugo!

As a child I can remember watching my mother with her white chef-style apron preparing the meat in the stainless steel bowl. She'd start with ground beef, lamb, and veal, then season it (no measuring, mind you!) with fresh garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, eggs, and finally, mixing in a generous handful of Romano cheese.  I'd help her roll the meat into imperfect balls with my awkward little hands struggling in vain to imitate her swift and nimble meatball rolling technique.

It's difficult to describe the feeling a child gets watching a raw meatball dropped into a cast iron frying pan of boiling olive oil. First, the anticipated sound ……psssttt. Then the outer layers of the meat quickly searing into a crispy, tantalizing, aromatic crust that you can't wait to tear off and pop into your mouth in spite of the fact that it's about as scorching as a red hot charcoal briquette. Aaahh, reason simple fades when all of your senses are prickling with delight!

In the meantime, the sugo "bath" is simmering, standing by, waiting for the savory meat morsels to be ceremoniously and cautiously plunged in, ultimately adding depth, character, flavor and color to its current immature tomato state.

After several hours of anticipation, the sugo and meatballs are generously poured over the al dente spaghetti while the salad and garlic bread are poised to accompany the Sunday gustatory delight. The final touch is the sprinkling of freshly grated Romano cheese.

(A true Italian cannot eat spaghetti without cheese. In fact, our dog Pastina, "little pasta" absolutely refused to eat her pasta without cheese, no matter how hungry she was.)

To me, food is and should be a multi-sensory experience. My memories of "Spaghetti on Sunday" still evoke satisfying and tantalizing thoughts that awaken all of my senses.

Spaghetti Sugo (sauce) with Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm.     (CLICK HERE FOR MORE)

Serves 8 (Reality check serving size: 4)

1 lb. of linguini or penne pasta

2 qts. of your homemade spaghetti sauce or your favorite canned or jarred marinara sauce

2 cups of large broken pieces of  Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm.

1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley course chopped

Romano or Parmesan cheese for grating or sprinkling on top

Cook pasta according to package directions in 4 qts. of boiling, salted water w/ 1 tbls. olive oil added to water to prevent pasta from sticking together.

Heat sugo to low boil, add Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm. and cook for about ten more minutes until chips are softened.

PREPARATION:
Mix all ingredients together. Don't over mix or the mixture will become tough. Mixture should be moist but not so that the meatballs fall apart.

Shape meatballs to desired size and place on a broiler pan (I wet my hands before shaping each meatball and it helps make a nice meatball.) Broil until outside is slightly brown on four sides.

Add meatballs to simmering sugo and cook for ½ hour to 1 hour. Serve meatballs and sugo over pasta.

Sprinkle generously with Romano cheese.

Here's how easy it is to make Croccante Sugo with Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm.

Heat 2 qts. of your homemade spaghetti sauce or your favorite pre-made canned or jarred marinara sauce to low boil.

Add Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm. Now cook this for about ten more minutes until the roasted, flavor packed croccante chips are softened and their intense flavor permeates your sugo.

You will need 2 cups of large broken pieces of Papa Lena's Roasted Red Pepper Chips tm. or a single clam shell order.

Your sugo will take on a flavor you and your guests have never tasted.