Lynne Rossetto Kasper's authoritative first book, The Splendid Table, explored the food and culture of Emilia-Romagna, Italy's culinary heartland. In The Italian Country Table, a collection of 200 regional recipes gathered from farmhouse cooks, Kasper once again provides cultural investigation and authentic, workable recipes.
Forget fashion and trends, this is the home cooking that has been Sunday dinner to generations of southern Italian families. When Mamma finally emerges from the kitchen with the steaming casserole of baked maccheroni, the most important meal of the week has finally begun.
Two meals from one pot-could we ask any more from a recipe? No! Follow southern Italian tradition-make a ragu by braising generous pieces of meat in tomato-wine sauce. End up with a sumptuous old-style casserole of baked maccheroni in ragu studded with pockets of creamy ricotta. and mozzarella. The meat becomes one of the most memorable pot roasts you'll ever eat.
> Cook to Cook: Although Italian families eat the pasta first and the meats as a second course, we can turn this single recipe into two separate meals. Serve the pasta as a main dish, then, a day later, have a dinner of meats, sliced and served with reheated sauce, salad and vegetables. Nothing is better than sandwiches of the leftovers. Dip rolls into a little rewarmed sauce, then stuff them with sliced meat. For the best flavor and easy defatting, cook the ragu a day or two ahead. Take care to not overcook the meats in rewarming
Wine Suggestion: A rich red like Montepulciano d'Abruzzo by Masciarelli, Illuminati or Edoardo Valentini
Serves: 8 to 10 as a full-course meal, 6 to 8 as two separate meals
Ragu and Braised Meats
3/4 tightly packed cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
3/4 tightly packed cup fresh basil leaves
5 large cloves garlic
Shredded zest of I large lemon
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 to 3 pounds pork butt
2 pounds turkey breast with skin and bone
2 large lamb shanks
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 medium red onions, minced
2 cups dry white wine
3 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
Baked Maccheroni
1 pound ziti, orecchiette, rigatoni, or any big hollow ribbed pasta, boiled to barely tender and drained
Mince together the herbs, garlic, and lemon zest. Blend with the red and black pepper and salt. Make 8 deep slits about 1 inch wide in each of the meats except the sausage. Stuff the slits with three quarters of the herb mixture.
In a 12-inch saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In 2 or 3 batches, leisurely brown the meats and sausage on all sides to a deep rich golden brown, lowering the heat to medium as necessary so as not to burn the brown glaze developing on the bottom of the pan. Place the browned meats in a heavy 8-quart pot.
In the same saute pan, cook the onions to golden, adjusting heat to prevent the glaze from burning. Stir in the remaining herb mixture, cooking 1 minute. Blend in the wine, simmering over medium heat while scraping up all the glaze from the bottom and sides of the pan. Reduce the wine by about half. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up with your hands as you add them. Bring to a boil.
Turn the sauce into the pot with the meats and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Partially cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meats are barely tender. Take care not to overcook. Taste for seasoning. Cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the layer of fat that has formed on top of the ragu before reheating. Slowly warm the meats, covered, over medium heat, about 20 minutes. Lift the meats except the sausage onto a platter, moistening them with 3 cups of sauce. Reserve the sausages and the remaining sauce to dress Sunday Baked Maccheroni.
Baked Maccheroni with Sunday Ragu
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Oil a shallow 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Warm the braising sauce. Slice the sausage 1/4 inch thick. Blend back into the sauce. Set aside 1 1/2 CUPS of sauce. Toss the freshly cooked pasta with the remaining sauce. Blend in the cubed mozzarella.
Cover the bottom of the baking dish with half the pasta. Top with all of the ricotta. Pile the rest of the pasta onto the ricotta, prodding it into place. Top with the reserved sauce. Cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes, or until heated through.
Uncover, spread the sliced mozzarella over pasta, and bake another 10 minutes, or until the cheese begins to melt. It should not brown. Let rest 5 minutes and serve.
