Spare Ribs, or Costicine di Maiale: There are lots of ways to cook pork spare ribs. Many end up being rather fatty, and though tasty aren't particularly healthy. Here steam renders out much of the fat; I enjoyed this recipe at a dinner I had in the hinterland of Verona, and Ivana was kind enough to share it. There really aren't any quantities involved, so the amounts you use will be up to you. You'll want individual pork spare ribs (figure 4-6 per person, or perhaps more).
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- Ribs necessary to feed your guests
- A 50-50 mixture of water and white wine
- The leaves of an 8-inch (20 cm) sprig of rosemary
- A little more white wine
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- A pressure cooker with a steamer basket attachment
Preparation:
Put the ribs in the steamer basket, put them in the pressure cooker, and add enough water and wine to fill the pressure cooker within an inch of the bottom of the basket (you don't want to boil the ribs). Pressure cook the ribs for 10 minutes to render out most of the fat.Let the pressure drop, open the pressure cooker, and arrange the ribs in an oven pan. Sprinkle them with the rosemary leaves, season them to taste with salt and pepper, dribble a little more white wine over them, and roast them for 20 minutes in a preheated oven. Or broil them until they're pleasingly browned.
The wine? A Valpolicella Classico.
