Remember back in July when my Seeester and I went to a pasta making class taught by the chef de cuisine from Lidia’s? Well ever since then I’ve been itching to have a meal at the restaurant. That day finally came over the Labor Day weekend when Brad Pitt and I randomly decided to pop in for a nice Sunday dinner. If we had waited, though, we would have had a chance to visit with Lidia in person. She is in town this week and kicks off the events this evening with a special dinner to celebrate the restaurant’s 15th anniversary in Kansas City. Damn. We were so close!
Sunday was a great day to visit, regardless, because I was able to chow down on her special Sunday Sauce dish with braised pork shoulder, Italian sausage and meatballs. It was fantastico.* Oh my gosh, so good. I found a recipe online for Lidia’s braised pork and I think I can find a way to recreate the dish, possibly combining the braised pork with this recipe for meat sauce. It would be perfect for a dinner party. Especially if you are going to the effort to braise a pork shoulder and create a homemade meat sauce. Sheesh. I would recommend inviting a bunch of people over to get as many levels of appreciation for your effort as possible.
You can’t see the Italian sausage in my photograph. Lets… just… say…. my camera angle of the sausage made for a not-so-G-rated photo. I was afraid those of you reading this on work computers would get reprimanded by your IT department. And I didn’t want any children who happened across the photo to be scarred for life.**
*I told you I was Italian. My mastery of the language is just further proof.
**Okay it wasn’t really that offensive, but a sausage is a sausage and they just aren’t photogenic. (It is hiding under the toast, in case you wondered.) Silly sausage.
PigTales 
Your great grandmother always put meat in her sauce–chicken, steak, bone-in pork chops or Italian sausage links along with meatballs. She didn’t cook them separately; they just simmered all afternoon in the sauce.
Maybe that’s what Lidias did. They said it simmered all day.
Looks delicioso! Sad I didn’t get the invite to join you and Brad for dinner. ; ) I could have brought the offspring for a more eventful outing. Ha ha ha ha! I must go to Lidia’s soon…without the kids! LOL
I will go with you. Without the kids. They’re too wild and crazy. đŸ™‚
Katie, this sauce is just like my mother’s. She always used pork along with sausage and meatballs. All I remember is that she cooked her sauce for two days before we were allowed to have it. I wish I would have watched her make it. I miss thst sauce!
Stein!! That is the exact sauce. It’s delicious! Your mom knew what she was doing!! đŸ™‚