Braised Pork Ribs with Rigatoni

Another meal prepared by SP for Sunday dinner with my parents. He loves cooking this time of year because he's really into long-simmering, hearty, comfort food. We're big fans of Lidia Bastianich, so he turned to one of her cookbooks when deciding what to make. He chose Braised Pork Ribs with Rigatoni because we had a rack of ribs in the freezer that needed to be used up, but when he read through the recipe he realized we'd need more ribs. D'oh. Oh well, we'll just have to make these again.



He made this while Baby Girl and I were away for the weekend, so we didn't get to smell the delicious aroma throughout the house as it cooked. But the end result...man, oh man. The meat was so tender you could just lightly pull on the bone and it would slide right out. Delicious. Comforting. Hearty. Everything you want in a Fall/Winter meal.

SP had to make two adjustments to the recipe - we can't easily find San Marzano tomatoes so he just used two cans of crushed tomatoes. He also couldn't find pickled cherry peppers, so he used banana pepper rings. Both worked just fine.

Braised Pork Ribs with Rigatoni
As seen in Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen

One whole rack (about 4 pounds) pork spare ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced (about 3 cups)
8 garlic cloves, peeled
6 pickled cherry peppers, stemmed, seeded and quartered (can also use mild banana pepper rings)
Two 35-ounce cans plum tomatoes (San Marzano) with their liquid, seeded and crushed (or 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes)
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 to 3 cups hot water, or as needed
1 pound rigatoni
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Cut the rack of spare ribs between the bones into single ribs (or ask your butcher to do this for you.) Season the rib pieces with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy braising pan over medium heat. Add as many of the ribs as will fit without touching. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the ribs, drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towel. Repeat with the remaining ribs. Adjust the temperature throughout the browning, so the fat in the pan is sizzling, but the pieces of pork that stick to the pan don’t burn.

Pour off all but about 4 tablespoons of fat from the casserole. Add the onions, garlic and cherry peppers and cook, stirring, until the onions are wilted and caramelized, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, scraping the pan to loosen the brown bits stuck to the bottom. Tuck the spare ribs into the tomato sauce, season lightly with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat to simmering and cook, turning the spare ribs in the sauce occasionally, until the ribs are fork-tender, about 2 hours. Ladle some of the hot water into the casserole from time to time as necessary to keep the ribs covered with liquid.

To serve: When the ribs are almost tender, cook pasta according to package directions.

Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and spoon in enough of the spare rib sauce to generously coat the pasta. Toss in the parsley and bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, tossing to coat the pasta with sauce. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 2/3 cup grated cheese. Transfer the pasta to a warm platter or individual plates and top with the spare ribs. Spoon a little of the remaining sauce over the pasta and serve immediately, passing additional sauce and grated cheese separately.

Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto

SP and I have been alternating cooking Sunday dinner for my parents. He tends to lean towards Italian dishes but even so, I was pretty surprised when he told me he wanted to make Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto. He's made it clear to me in the past that he isn't a fan of one of my all-time favorite dishes. Apparently I was just putting too many "weird" ingredients in my risottos of the past. Who knew?

This was truly outstanding. SP did a great job cooking the rice to perfection. He used some of the tomatoes my mom and I canned over the summer instead of the cherry tomatoes in the original recipe, as well as some of the fresh basil I froze when my basil plant was thriving. It was great to throw in those cubes of basil leaves and smell that summery aroma.

He made one and a half recipes (rather than doubling the recipe) for 4 adults and 1 child and there was barely enough leftover for lunches the next day. And that was with salad and bread on the side. It's just so good we all kept going back for more.

Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto
Recipe from Lidia Bastianich

4 1/2 cups hot chicken broth
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 medium onion, minced, (about 3/4 cup)
1 medium leek, white parts only, trimmed, cleaned, and chopped
6 scallions , trimmed, white and green parts chopped separately
2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella
1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Pour the stock into a 2 quart saucepan and keep it hot over low heat.

Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cloves garlic, sliced, and shake the pan until the garlic is lightly browned. Slide in 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes and stir gently until they are juicy. Toss in a handful of shredded fresh basil, remove the pan from the heat, and set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a wide 3 to 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the leek and white parts of the scallions and cook, stirring, until the onion is golden, about 6 minutes. Adjust the heat under the pan as the onion browns so that it cooks slowly with gentle bubbling.

Stir in the rice and continue stirring until the grains are coated with oil and toasted, the edges become translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it boil, stirring the rice, until evaporated.

Season the rice with salt and ladle enough of the hot stock into the pan to barely cover the rice. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the stock is at a lively simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, until all the stock has been absorbed and you can see the bottom of the pan when you stir. Continue cooking, pouring in the remaining hot stock in small batches - each additional should be just enough to completely moisten the rice - and cook until each batch of stock had been absorbed. Stir constantly until the rice mixture is creamy but al dente, this will take 16 to 20 minutes from the time the wine was added. Stir in the sauteed cherry tomatoes halfway through cooking.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in half the grated cheese, taste the risotto, and add salt, if necessary, and pepper. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of cubed fresh mozzarella (preferably mozzarella di bufala) along with the grated cheese and butter. Stir in butter and green parts of the scallion until the butter is completely melted.

Ladle risotto into warm, shallow bowls and serve immediately after finishing.

Meat Sauce Bolognese

The other night I was planning to make Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner. But, as always seems to be the case before vacation, work was crazy and I didn't have an opportunity to make the meatballs in advance. By the time I was done with work the thought of rolling all those meatballs was daunting.

Thankfully SP suggested meat sauce instead. I turned to my go-to Italian cookbook - Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen - and found her recipe for Meat Sauce Bolognese.

I had all the ingredients on hand, but not the 2-3 hours to cook it. Never fear - this was incredible after only an hour, so don't be dissuaded by the proposed cook time. It was easy to throw together and let simmer on the stove while I cooked the angel hair, my current favorite pasta shape, and chopped the ingredients for this salad.

Meat Sauce Bolognese
Slightly modified from Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced (about 1 cup)
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely shredded (about 1/2 cup)
2 ribs celery, minced (about 1/2 cup)
Salt
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup dry red wine (or broth)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
28oz can crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 cups hot water, or as needed

Heat the olive oil in a wide, 3 to 4-quart pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery, season with salt and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Crumble in the ground beef and pork and continue cooking, stirring to break up the meat, until the meat is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat or remove the pan from the heat and use a crumpled paper towel to drain off any extra fat.

Add the wine (or broth) and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the wine is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, toss in the bay leaves and season lightly with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is dense but juicy and a rich, dark red color. (Most likely, a noticeable layer of oil will float to the top toward the end of cooking.) This will take about 2 to 3 hours - the longer you cook it, the better it will become - but an hour is also fine.

While the sauce is cooking, add hot water as necessary to keep the meats and vegetables covered. The oil can be removed with a spoon or reincorporated in the sauce.

Serve over pasta.

Eggplant Rollatini

SP wanted to make something homey and delicious one cold winter day, so he bought a bunch of eggplants and set about making eggplant rollatini.


He used some of the fresh tomatoes my mom and I canned last summer in the sauce and it was phenomenal. You could really taste summer in every bite.



Eggplant Rollatini
Lidia Bastianich

3 cups whole-milk ricotta
tomato sauce
2 medium eggplants
coarse salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil
3 eggs
all purpose flour
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
black pepper
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4" sticks
8 fresh basil leaves

Preheat 375 F.

Trim the stems and ends from the eggplants. Remove strips of peel about 1" wide from the eggplants, leaving about 1/2 the peel intact. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4" slices and place them in a colander. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt, tossing to expose all slices, and let drain 1 hour. Rinse eggplant under cool running water, drain thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.

Pour olive and vegetable oils into a medium skillet over med-high heat. While the oil is heating, whisk 2 of the eggs and 1 teaspoon coarse salt together in a wide, shallow bowl. Spread flour in an even layer in a separate wide, shallow bowl. Dredge eggplant slices in flour, shaking the excess off. Dip the floured eggplant into the egg mixture, turning well to coat both sides evenly.

Add as many of the coated eggplant slices as fit without touching and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides.

Stir the ricotta, 1/2 cup grated cheese, and parsley together in a mixing bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Beat remaining egg in a separate bowl and stir into ricotta mixture. Pour 1 cup tomato sauce over the bottom of a 10 X 15 baking dish.

Lay one of the fried eggplant slices in front of you with the short end toward you. Spoon about 2 tablespoons ricotta filling over the narrow end of the slice and top it with a mozzarella stick and a basil leaf. Roll into a compact roll and place seam side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, placing rolls side by side. Ladle remaining tomato sauce over eggplant rolls to coat them evenly. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.

Cover dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and filling is heated through, about 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.