Anticiplate

I have never chopped onions and garlic at 8am. Never.

But because of my plans for Sunday, I knew I had to get an early start on this dish.  I did all of the normal protocol: chop, saute, simmer, scrape the brown bits, but when it came to cooking on the stove for 2 hours, I just didn’t have time for that. So, I heated the oven to 250 degrees, put a lid on my dutch oven and left my pork shoulder to do what it does best. I got home at 4:00, 8 hours later, and I smelled the ragu down the hallway of my building. I came in and opened the oven. Took the lid off, and began to stir. The pork just shredded.

This recipe is a winner, and will feed the multitudes. Eight people last night did not even put a dent in the sauce.

And, completely off subject, I have gotten a lot of comments about the missing “Erik’s Rating”. Does anyone else miss Erik’s star rating? Should we put it back on the blog?

Prep time: 20 minutes

Active cook time: 20 minutes

Inactive cook time: All day!

Makes 3 quarts of sauce (enough for 12)

*Adapted from Domenica Marchetti from her cookbook “Big Night In”

3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder

Kosher salt and Cracked black pepper

1/4 c. plus 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 yellow onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. red pepper flakes

1 c. dry red wine

7 c. diced tomatoes in their juice

4 fresh bay leaves

2 large sprigs rosemary

1 lb. spicy italian pork sausage

Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Short cut pasta, such as rigatoni or cavatappi

Freshly grated parmigiano -reggiano

Season pork with salt and pepper, generously. Heat 1/4 c. oil in a LARGE dutch oven over medium-high heat. Set the pork in the pot and let it brown on each side for about 4 minutes, until all sides are browned. Remove pork to a large plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add the onions. Saute for about 8 minutes until translucent. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute another minute. Return the pork to the pot. Raise heat to medium-high again and add in wine. Let wine bubble for about 1 minute. Add in tomatoes, bay leaves, and rosemary. Reduce heat back to medium-low.

Remove sausage from its casing and crumble the meat into the sauce (weird, but just do it). Cover the pot and simmer the sauce gently until pork is fork tender. You can either do this on the stove-top or in the oven at 250 degrees.

When the meat is fork tender, the meat should shred in the sauce. Add in the remaining herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, toss with cooked salted pasta. You can either serve this individually or family style.  Sprinkle tons of parmigiano reggiano on the top! This sauce is even better the next day when it is reheated.