With my comprehensive exams in the rear view mirror (actually, I won't know whether I passed for another week or so, but the tests are over, anyway), I have had some time to spend in the kitchen and have had a couple of good dinners. I recently got the October issue of Food & Wine magazine and put together the Baked Orecchiette with Pork Sugo that was featured. Think baked ziti, but rather than that mass produced buffet lunch staple, this was just a fantastic dish, full of rustic flavors.
To start, brown off about 1 pound of meaty western style pork ribs, and then sweat a mix of diced onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a cast iron dutch oven. Deglaze with about 1 cup of dry red wine and add a 14 oz. can of diced tomatos and a sachet of thyme sprigs and a bay leaf. Return the meat to the pot and reduce the liquid by about half. At this point, add enough chicken stock to just cover the meat. Cover up the pot and simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours. Once the meat is tender, remove it from the bone and shred it in a food processor. Use an immersion blender to chop up the vegetables in the liquid.
The final step is to boil about 1/2 poind of orecchiette pasta (medium shells or farfalle would also work) for about 5 minutes (the package I used suggested 11 minutes to al dente, so you are cooking the pasta only part way). Mix the pasta with the soup and the shredded por
k and pour it all into a casserole and top with shredded parmesan cheese. This goes into a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or so, or until the cheese is golden brown and delicious. I drank part of a bottle of a South African Cabernet Sauvignon with this dish.
For dessert, we had found some fresh raspberries on sale and so I decided to make a ch
ocolate lava cake that had berries inside rather than chocolate. A super-rich dessert, but the raspberries added a brightness that most lava cakes sacrifice for decadence. Not only was this a
delicious dessert, it looked nice too!
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