Recipe: Lidia's Sunday Ragu with Braciole and Braised Spareribs with Rigatoni

Hi Vince - I absolutely love Lidia Bastianich and her recipes! Her website doesn't have the ragu recipe, but you might want to visit and look at some of the others she has posted - http://www.lidiasitaly.com

Her cookbooks are outstanding, too. Here is the ragu recipe:

SUNDAY RAGU
This is a typical Sunday Italian American meal. Serve the braciole as is, or fish them out of the sauce, arrange them on a platter and serve the sauce with rigatoni or gnocchi. Sausages and meatballs may also be added to the pot for an even more bountiful dinner.

Makes 6 servings

For The Braciole:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups bread cubes (1/2-inch), cut from day-old bread with crusts removed
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped coarse
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
2 lbs. beef bottom round, cut into 12 slices, each about 1/2 inch thick (see Note)
12 slices Prosciutto di Parma (about 6 ounces)
1/4 lb. imported provolone cheese, cut into 1/4 x 1/4 inch sticks
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

For The Sauce:
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions (about 8 ounces), chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 (35 oz.) canned Italian plum tomatoes
1/2 cup dry red wine
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 bay leaves
Water as needed
Salt
Crushed red pepper flakes

Pour the milk into a medium bowl, add the bread cubes and let soak until the bread is very soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess milk from the bread cubes with your hands and return the bread to the bowl. Stir in the chopped eggs, parsley, Parmigiano-Reggiano, raisins, pine nuts and garlic. Mix well and set aside.

With the toothed side of a heavy meat mallet, pound each slice of beef round to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Arrange one of the pounded meat slices in front of you with one of the short sides (if there is one) closest to you. Top with a slice of prosciutto and tap the prosciutto with the back side of a knife so it adheres to the beef.

Spread 2 tablespoons of the stuffing over the prosciutto, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Place a stick of provolone crosswise over the edge of the stuffing closest to you. Fold the border closest to you over the provolone, then fold the side borders in to overlap the edges of the stuffing. Roll into a compact roll. Secure the end flap with a toothpick. Proceed to finish all, then season the rolls with salt and pepper.

MAKE THE SAUCE: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy casserole over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until the onion is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add as many of the braciole as will fit in a single layer and cook, turning the braciole as necessary, until golden on all sides, about 7 minutes. If necessary, repeat with any remaining braciole.

Meanwhile, empty the tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze them with your hands until coarsely crushed.

If necessary, return all the braciole to the casserole. Pour the wine into the casserole, bring to a boil and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add tomato paste and bay leaves and stir until the paste is dissolved. Adjust the heat to
simmering and cook, adding water as necessary to keep the braciole completely submerged, until the beef is tender, about 3 hours.

Remove the toothpicks before serving. The braciole can be prepared up to 2 days in advance, then reheated over low heat until heated through.

NOTE: The slices of beef should measure about 4 to 5 inches on each side before pounding. To obtain pieces of the right size, look for -- or ask your butcher to cut -- six 1/2-inch-thick slices from a whole bottom round, then cut those slices crosswise into two pieces.

Here is another recipe from Lidia that was previously posted here - I have made this many times and absolutely love it. I have used beef back ribs several times instead of the pork ribs, and it's outstanding that way, too!

Braised Spareribs with Rigatoni
Lidia's, Kansas City, Kansas
Bon Appetit, Sept. 2000, pg. 153

serves 4-6

1/4 cup olive oil
4 lbs. pork spareribs, cut into individual ribs
1 lb. onions, thinly sliced
10 large garlic cloves, chopped
8 cherry peppers from jar, drained, seeded and chopped
3/4 tsp. dried crushed red pepper
3 cans (28 oz. each) Italian-style tomatoes in juice
1 cup canned low-fat chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
4 large fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves

1 lb. rigatoni
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat oil in large pot over high heat. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add to pot and brown well. About 6 min. Transfer ribs to a bowl. Add onions, garlic, cherry peppers and crushed red pepper. Saute til onions just begin to brown, about 10 min. Add tomatoes and their juices. Using back of fork or a potato masher, coursely crush tomatoes. Return the ribs to the pot and include any juices that drained. Add broth, wine, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low. Simmer uncovered til ribs are very tender and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally about 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water. Cook til tender but firm to the bite. Drain and return pasta to same pot. Add cheese, parsley and some sauce from ribs and toss to coat. Transfer pasta to large bowl, top with ribs and remaining sauce and serve.