The pasta should cook for at least 4 hrs. on the stove, but it's best cooked even longer. Start the sauce on medium heat in a large pot, add the cans of tomatoes, paste and water. Add bay leaves and sprinkle enough basil and parsley in the pot, enough to cover the surface of it. Once the sauce begins to bubble (don't boil), turn the stove down to low heat. Cover the pot half-way (with room for the steam to escape). An hour before you're ready to serve, uncover.

Once sauce is begun, brown your sausage. My Mom doesn't use any oil or spray butter when browning because she just relies on the fat from the sausage. It depends on your pan, so if you think you need it, add some oil to the pan. Keep turning the sausage until all sides are browned, and the sausage is cooked through. Then, add them to the sauce.

Next are the meatballs. Combine all ingredients together and roll into 1 inch-by 1 inch balls. Brown them on all sides, just as you did with the sausage. Once complete, throw them into the sauce too.

The trick is to cook the sauce all day. Taste it from time to time - it shouldn't taste bitter or too much like tomatoes. What my Mom does, every time she tastes, is to cover the surface of the pot with basil (to cut the tomato flavor) and with 1 T. sugar at a time, if needed (to cut the bitter flavor.)

Once you're ready to serve, cook your noodles according to directions. Cover pasta with sauce and serve it with extra sauce on the side. This is a great recipe!