Pasta sauce going for $35 a jar

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NEW YORK, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Think gasoline is expensive at under $4 a gallon? Check out Sunday Gravy, a pasta sauce its New York City makers are peddling for $35 a 32-ounce jar.

Chef Steven Smith, who makes the sauce with his business partner Grace Clerihew, says there's a good reason their Sunday Gravy costs way more than celebrity brands like Mario Batali ($7.80), Lidia Bastianich ($6.80) or Rao's ($8): They spend 6 to 8 hours slow-braising pork shoulder and beef chuck before adding it to a plum-tomato sauce with basil, onions and garlic, mini-meatballs and sliced sausage.

"If someone doesn't know the product and isn't seeing it and tasting it, they compare it to an $8 jar like Rao's," Smith told the New York Post. "That's a tomato sauce versus braised meat and tomato."

Still, not everyone appears convinced, the Post reported Saturday.

"You're kidding me, right?!" someone posted on Facebook. "Who in their right mind would pay $35 for sauce?"

Right now, Sunday Gravy can be purchased online at www.sundaygravynyc.com. and in select New York City locations, though the Post said talks are under way to get into grocery chains such as Whole Foods.