2 pounds Italian sausages (some spicy, some sweet)
Parboil the tomatoes in a big pot of water for a few minutes to loosen their skin. Remove the skin and put the tomatoes aside.
Place the onion, garlic, and olive oil in a large pot and saute lightly, making sure not to brown the garlic. Squash the tomatoes through a colander, tossing out the hard ends, and add the crushed tomatoes and their juice. Stir in the oregano and basil, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover tightly and simmer over low heat, stirring regularly. If you like a smoother sauce, blend half of this mixture in a blender and return it to the pot.
Rinse a large skillet and leave the moisture in it. Born the sausages (they do not need to be cooked all the way through since they will finish cooking in the sauce). Add the browned sausages to the tomato mixture. Add your prepared meatballs (see below) and whatever other meats you wish to add to the sauce. Cover tightly and continue simmering over very low heat, periodically stirring lightly.
Simmer the sauce for a few hours, adjusting the salt and pepper as you cook the sauce. Remove the meat and place it on a platter.
Lasagna
1/2 recipe for the meat gravy (above)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1.5 pounds lasagna noodles
1 pound Ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 cups grated Romano cheese
1.5 pounds shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup minced parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the olive oil and the pasta, and cook the noodles al dente. Rinse and drain the noodles, then lay them out flat and set aside.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat the Ricotta cheese and eggs until smooth and creamy. Reserve a few handfuls of shredded Mozzarella to sprinkle on top of the dish before it goes into the oven. Add the Romano, the rest of the shredded Mozzarella, the parsley, salt and pepper to the Ricotta mixture. Mix well.
Spread a thin layer of the Meat Gravy on the bottom of a large baking dish. Reserve some sauce for serving with your lasagna later. Cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. Spread a layer of the Ricotta cheese mixture smoothly on top. Cover with a layer of chopped meats and another layer of pasta. Spread some more sauce, and continue layering in this manner until the baking dish is full. Top off the dish with a thin layer of sauce and shredded Mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F. Be sure not to brown the top layer of cheese. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes to settle before cutting into pieces.
