recipe reviews for:

Old Fashioned Sicilian Succo

“My Nana used to cook this for me when I was young and as she prepared things and we waited for the sauce to finish, she'd tell me great stories about her life in Sicily and other secret business! This recipe is the best sauce I've ever had- I really think it can bring the family together. Just prepare it and you'll see that when dinner time comes everyone's mouths will be watering because of the great smell, the entire family can gather around the table and there will be enough for everyone, I promise! ”

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Reviewed: Jul. 18, 2009

I know everyone raves about this recipe, but it wasn't that great. It needs salt and some extra seasoning. And the meatballs were a bit bland.

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amydoll

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Rockford, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 15, 2009

I have been searching for a recipe to resemble make my husband's Sicilian grandmother's homemade sauce, and this is the closest I have come! Alleluia! If you are used to American spaghetti sauce, this is not it. This is the real deal Italian stuff from the homeland. I pretty much followed the recipe to a t, but made a few additions: half of cup heavy cream and a cup of parm to the sauce to try and cut back on the acidity (parm was a mistake, it became too salty, next time I'll try carrots). Followed the meat-a ball :) instructions exactly and added six links of hot Italian sausage. TIP: don't pre-cook the meatballs (or sausage), just gently add to sauce and stir occasionally. They'll cook during the four hour simmering and will come out perfectly. If you are looking for authentic Italian meatballs and gravy, look no more.

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nkgreco

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Living In: Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 24, 2009

Absolutely, without a doubt, the BEST meatballs and sauce you will taste. I have shared the recipe after receiving so many requests for it. Awesome!

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SARAHSMOM1

Home Town: Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA

Living In: Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 6, 2008

My kids and I were looking for an authentic Italian dish after studying Italy. This one was great. We didn't vary from the recipe. The meatballs were great with the combination of pork and beef. It made a ton of sauce! I think I would probably cut back on a little of the tomatoe sauce next time, but we will make these meatballs again!!

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JBHERRON

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Reviewed: Feb. 29, 2008

Very good. We are having the left-overs as meatball subs. The meatballs were a little dry to me. I might add an egg next time. Added quite a bit more garlic & Italian Seasonings. We liked it but didn't love it.

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Scotdog

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 3, 2007

WOW!! What a great recipe! Will make this one often.

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firelinea

Cooking Level: Beginning

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Reviewed: Jul. 10, 2007

Pretty good. Substituted a can of crushed for the sauce. Added a splash of red wine. I prefer using stale baguette buzzed in the blender then soaked in a little half and half instead of boxed bread crumbs. Also you needn't cook the meatballs in the fry pan, they can gently simmer in the sauce and their texture will be much softer. Don't leave the pork out of the meatballs! Mangia

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SURFWENCH

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Feb. 1, 2007

This was delicious and it makes a ton of sauce. I added a large chopped yellow onion, a tablespoon of red pepper flakes (adds a nice bit of subtle heat to the sauce), and a dash of oregano. And for the meatballs I added some black pepper and one egg. Very very good!

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JeffKat

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2007

Well worth the time and effort! It's excellent. I did make a couple of changes--I added one onion, chopped, and I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. It's simple, and it's delicious. It's almost 11 pm here, and before I put the pot away (and you will need a very large pot!), we took a taste test and ended up eating a sandwich right there! UPDATE and suggestion: if you have leftover sauce, try it as pizza sauce. We used it on the Brick-oven pizza from this site (another favorite of ours), and it's wonderful--try adding thin slices of the meatballs to the pizza before popping in the oven--fabulous! It also makes great meatball sandwiches. We doubled the meatball recipe and added to the sauce...makes enough to feed an army! ANOTHER update!: I just cannot say enough about this recipe. I've begun adding diced roasted red peppers in subsequent batches, and it is one of our favorites. Tonight for the first time, I used it for lasagna, and it is the best lasagna we have ever had! You MUST try this recipe if you like rich, slow-cooked sauce. It is absolutely the best.

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wisweetp

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Smithville, Mississippi, USA

Living In: Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 6, 2007

This sauce was really good, however I do prefer a chunky spaghetti sauce. This one had a lot of flavor, and the meatballs were great (although I only used beef). I did add fresh, chopped mushrooms, I only wish I had added chopped onion and green pepper as I had intended. I served this with Easy Focaccia from this site.

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MOLLE888

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Living In: Fairfax, Virginia, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 9, 2006

I personally thought something was missing from the meatballs...not too much flavor. My son loved this dish and so did my daughter. I couldn't get a comment from my husband. Not sure if I'll ever make again. It did take some time and made a big mess on the stove.

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Elkdag

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Fenton, Michigan, USA

Living In: Clyde, North Carolina, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2006

I have to say that my family and I like this meatball recipe the best of all the ones I've tried on this site and I've tried a few, while they were really good, I think the texture of the meat was better since it used no eggs. I also added onions but that is a personal preference for my family. Thanks so much for the post.

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Cooking 101

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Rockford, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: May 14, 2006

I've made this twice now and both times it was wonderful. This is almost as good as my Italian Grandmother's recipe.

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PLANETJAI

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Champaign, Illinois, USA

Living In: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 4, 2006

This sauce was delicious! I added a carrot, chopped, to balance any acidic tang from the tomatoes (and used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce), added one chopped onion and the whole family raved! I didn't have ground pork on hand, so I used Jimmy Dean bulk sausage with the ground beef for the meatballs and they were great! I will definately be making this recipe again----delicious and easy!

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Labbylover

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2005

Grown ups love this, kids love this. My italian husband said it was most like his grandmother's recipe. Really simple sauce no chunks to prevent children or picky adults from eating. Makes a mountain of meatballs and sauce. Leftovers are awesome, will be trying some as suggested in lasagna today.

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Lythgoe29

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Reviewed: Feb. 19, 2005

I really love these meatballs, although I don't make them exactly as the recipe says. Since I'm only cooking for two, I only use 1 lb of ground beef and omit the pork all together. I use 1/3 cup each of bread crumbs/parmesan cheese. This makes plenty for 2. I follow the recipe for the tomato sauce exactly, and it always comes out great. I've made this recipe many times. I've served it over pasta, I've tweaked the recipe slightly to make it a "sweet and sour" meatball dish, and I've also made meatball subs out of it (french loaf cut in half with the middle scooped out, toasted under the broiler until just a little "crunchy", then slice the meatballs in half and lay on the bread, spoon a little sauce over all, add mozzarella cheese on top, stick back under the broiler until melted and viola!). Really versatile, tasty recipe that I will continue to use. Thank you for sharing!

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NATALIESHD

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Reviewed: May 11, 2004

Good spaghetti and meatballs. I did add a little chopped onion and red pepper flakes to the sauce. I made a huge pot, and its almost all gone!

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SweetBasil

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: San Diego, California, USA

Living In: Liberty Hill, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: May 10, 2004

While this recipe was easy enough, I don't think it had much distinct flavor to it. My husband thought the meatballs were a little too mushy and the sauce needed "something". Maybe some red pepper flakes? This will be a recipe to play with, though ... thanks!

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POLARBEE

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

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Reviewed: May 4, 2004

very good! I don't eat pork, so I used only beef.

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GIGI637

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Miami, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 30, 2004

i have never made homemade meatballs, these were easy and great tasting. i will use the sauce all the time for everything. this was wonderful. thank you

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