CHEF JIM’S DELICIOUS BRACIOLE

Fine and you?

It’s been a nice holiday break around the Red Brick Ranchero. Wild “goings-on”, as they say.

Standing rib roast, flourless dark chocolate truffle cake and one of the better Christmas Eves ending with my great great great somebody’s eggnog that makes your eyes water to grilled lobster tails and old and new friends gathering on New Year’s Eve. Never a dull moment!

This past weekend, Groom requested short ribs. And being the loving person that I am, I said,
“well, if we must.”

I know, I know. But I love short ribs.

This recipe is from Andrew Carmellini’s new cookbook, Urban Italian. And it’s a good one.

I’d seen Braciole in several cookbooks, usually a flattened piece of beef rolled with cheese, prosciutto and hard boiled eggs, browned and braised in a simple tomato sauce.

This recipe takes the simplicity of the tomato sauce, the salty flavor of pancetta and spicy crushed red pepper to make a memorable meal from short ribs.

No eggs., no rolling up anything. Just easy.

Fine with me!

Short Ribs Braciole
Liberally Adapted from Urban Italian by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman

¼ pound pancetta, diced
2-3 lbs boneless beef short ribs, trimmed of fat as much as you care to do
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 large spoonful garlic confit, smashed
Crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups whole canned San Marzano tomatoes
½ cup red wine

¼ cup pine nuts, chopped
A couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil
½ bagel, not toasted and whirled in food processor til bread crumb texture
1 tbsp Turkish oregano
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2-3 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Over medium high heat, cook pancetta in large Dutch oven til the fat renders, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Season short ribs with salt and pepper to taste and add to pan. Brown on all sides and remove from pan. Add onion and cook til softens, about five minutes. Add garlic confit and a couple of good shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.

Add the ribs back to the pan and squeeze the tomatoes into the pan along with their juice. Bring to a low boil, cover and put in the oven to cook for 2-1/2 hours or until you can stick a fork in the ribs and they fall apart. Take out of the oven and add the red wine to bring the sauce together. Let sit over very low heat.

Toast the pine nuts over low heat about five minutes and then add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and then add the bagel crumbs. Add oregano and fresh parsley, stir well, remove from heat and grate in the cheese.
Plate the short ribs, (we served it with a couple of new potatoes), top with pine nut mixture and serve.

Serves 3-4 generously.
(I did this in the slow cooker, setting it on high for 3 hours. Worked beautifully!)