Porky Pasta: Andrea’s Pasta with Pork Ribs

14 Jul

When my friend Jen asked me a few months ago if I wanted to go in on a CSA share from the Piggery, a pork farm near Ithaca, NY, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Weekly deliveries of pork, charcuterie, bacon, cooking lard,* and who knows what else? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

porkribs3.jpg
This week was my turn to take home our CSA box, and we got five country ribs. I don’t know much about country ribs, but these had a ton of meat (and a fair amount of fat), almost like a rib steak. I had nothing else to make for dinner, really, so it was rib night!

Thing is, most rib recipes involve a low and slow approach, calling for at least three hours in a low oven. It was already 7 when I got home, so that was out of the question. Luckily Bittman’s got a recipe in How to Cook Everything where you brown the ribs with some garlic, then add a big can of tomatoes and simmer them for about an hour. Make a pot of pasta and you’ve stretched four or five ribs much further than they would’ve otherwise gone. Everyone gets some pasta, sauce, and a rib to gnaw on.

porkribs2.jpg
I may have had the heat too high, or maybe this recipe doesn’t work as well with country ribs, because the meat ended up a bit on the tough side. It wasn’t inedible, far from it: this meat we’re getting from the Piggery really is top notch, and it’d take a seriously misguided cook to mess it up that badly. The surprise star of this recipe was the tomato sauce that went on the pasta: after simmering for an hour with those ribs, it took on a luscious porky flavor that was so good, I found myself eating the excess sauce out of my brother’s bowl. Why waste it?

porkribs4.jpg
In any case, how many pasta recipes do you know that end like this? This is one that I’ll definitely make again; it’s just barely harder than pasta with tomato sauce, but it’s way more special. On top of that, it’s a great way to get a lot of mileage out of not too many ribs.

*I feel weird having so much lard in the house. What do do with it? Will it kill me? Suggestions appreciated.

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Eat This: M. Wells Diner | Ben Cooks Everything - March 31, 2011

    […] genuinely friendly vibe. 11 of us ate together to celebrate my friend Jen’s birthday (you may remember her from the pork CSA we shared). Last year on Jen’s birthday we were being brutalized and […]

  2. Buy Facebook Fans - December 29, 2011

    Recommended Websites…

    […]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[…]…

  3. Copyright Protection - January 6, 2012

    … [Trackback]…

    […] Informations on that Topic: bencookseverything.com/2010/07/porky-pasta-andreas-pasta-with-pork-ribs/ […]…

  4. Hotels in Almelo - January 12, 2012

    … [Trackback]…

    […] Read More here: bencookseverything.com/2010/07/porky-pasta-andreas-pasta-with-pork-ribs/ […]…

  5. phentermine online - January 16, 2012

    … [Trackback]…

    […] Read More: bencookseverything.com/2010/07/porky-pasta-andreas-pasta-with-pork-ribs/ […]…

  6. reverse mortage - January 17, 2012

    Related……

    […]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[…]……

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.