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| Fig.1. A Hearty Pasta |
Spaghetti Con Salsa di Maiale Ubriaco.
I haven’t posted on this blog in two months. Cooking seems to have lost some of its spark
for me. I no longer yearn for the smell of garlic or the sound of a sizzling
pan. Maybe it’s this eternal winter, maybe
its age, maybe its life, maybe I’m just tired from all the chewing. But it’s
not completely gone. I do have moments of culinary bliss that present, often, like a slap in the face: a perfect crispy chicken wing, a hot soft meatball, and,
most recently, from a cassoulet I made for some friends.
The times that I do experience culinary
delight are the times I hear The Call of The Wild, and like the Alaskan Huskies
in Jack London’s story, I howl and beckon to my laptop and my imagination: at
times they come, at times they stay away. Mostly of late, they stay away, or, in
fairness, I keep them away.
This cold weather makes me want to braise
stuff in red wine, lots of red wine, enough red wine that I have ample enough
to get drunk with while my meat braises.
This recipe literally translates to: Spaghetti with drunken pig sauce.
It’s good for two reasons: tastes great and it’s better not to get drunk alone.
Spaghetti Con Salsa di Maiale Ubriaco
Spaghetti with pork braised in red wine sauce
Serves 4
This recipe works better when you space it
out over two days. On the first day you simply braise the pork in wine for a
couple of hours, and on the second day you just assemble the sauce and cook the
pasta. It’s also an excuse to drink wine two days in a row.
Ingredients:
1 to 1 ½ lbs of pork. You can use a large
pork loin, or, part of the pork shoulder.
1 bottle of a good full bodied red wine.
1 large onion, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
1 can of whole plum tomatoes, crushed with
your hands
3 anchovies
1 large red onion, diced
Chili flakes
Salt and pepper
500 g (1 pack) spaghetti
Directions:
Day one: Pour your self a glass of wine.
Add some olive oil to a heavy bottom, medium pot. Once your oil becomes hot, add the pork and
sear it on both sides. Once your pork has obtained that golden color add the
onion and garlic, empty the whole bottle of wine in the pot and bring to a
simmer. Let the pork simmer, semi-covered, for about two hours. Once the wine
has reduced by about ¾, remove from heat, cover the pot in plastic wrap and
refrigerate. Keep drinking wine, I hope
you bought two bottles.
Day two: Remove the pork from the pan and
remove any fat that has congealed on the surface of the pork or the wine
reduction. Chop the pork and the onion and garlic in little pieces and add it
back to the pot with the wine. Bring the wine reduction to a gentle simmer and
add the crushed tomatoes, bring it back to a simmer.
At this point, bring a pot of salted water
to a boil for your pasta.
Add some olive oil to a large, non-stick
pan set over medium high heat. Once the oil gets hot add the anchovies, the red
onion and the chili flakes. (It’s a soffritto people, you need to remember and
practice your basics: Soffritto-trito-battuto, revise them all. I like to break
the anchovies up in the pan with my wooden spoon.) Once the onions are
translucent, add the wine and pork mixture, stir well and season with salt and
pepper. Add your spaghetti to the pan
with the pork mixture and mix well. Serve immediately with some freshly grated Parmesan
cheese. (You should have more than enough sauce, but, if it appears a little
dry, add some of the pasta water.)
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| Fig.2. Browning in olive oil |
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| Fig.3. Getting the pork drunk. |
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| Fig.4.Chop it all up |
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| Fig.4. Get your soffritto on. |
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| Fig.5. Add the drunken wine to the soffritto. |
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| Fig.6. Winter food. |
