Spareribs with Tomatoes and Vegetables for Polenta
I shall start with my confession: Bless me, Marcella, for I have sinned.
There was that big word, TOMATOES, in the title of the recipe, and I love spare ribs, but as I have mentioned, I do not eat tomatoes. Ok, no changes or substitutions, or trading recipes; so I made half a rack exactly like the recipe, for Brad to eat, and the with the other half, I made yesterday’s pan-roasted spareribs with white wine, Treviso Style, for myself. Since they both went well with polenta, I couldn’t resist looking forward to dinner all day long! One rack of spare ribs, two recipes, and everyone was happy!
But let’s get back to my recipe for today. Chopped onion is cooked in a little olive oil, and then the spareribs are added and browned. Next, carrots and celery are added to the pan. Finally, the tomatoes are added with salt and pepper, and the ribs are cooked slowly for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
A small amount of water may be needed. The meat is very tender, and comes right off the bone. The polenta is perfect for the rich tomato and vegetable sauce.
I DID eat one of Brad’s ribs, and he ate one of mine. We were both happy with our separate meals. If I am honest, the ribs in the tomato sauce were even more tender, but I just couldn’t resist the flavors of the white wine, garlic and sage. How nice to have such great choices! I would definitely make the Treviso style ribs again. The tomatoes…not so much. This is not as weird as the fact that I don’t eat chocolate, I think.
OK, wait…I knew about the no tomatoes thing. I admit that I don’t understand it, but I’m willing to be open minded.
But CHOCOLATE? Seriously? Palma, as you devoted friend, I’m considering the idea of organizing an intervention at SlowBowl.
BTW — This dish looks quite tasty — both versions.
Palma both dishes look great. Not eating chocolate is perfectly normal. I’ve been doing the same my whole life. The only weird thing about it is some of the comments I hear from people. I once had a coworker tell me she could no longer trust me when she found out.
Irene, your co-worker’s reaction was extreme perhaps, but not weird. We form tremendous attachments to certain foods or ways of cooking and we are bewildered when we find they don’t appeal to someone else in the same way. Chocolate, and I speak only of dark very good chocolate, is not even just about “liking”, it’s a powerful stimulant that can stir one almost as deeply as an act of love. I have developed fondness for Palma and respect for her cooking, but I wish she could be cured of some of her food aversions.