Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book (50 page)

Place the mushrooms and stock in a medium pot. Bring to a bubble over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and let the mushrooms steep in the stock for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add the EVOO. Add the pancetta and cook until golden and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes, then remove it to a small plate, keeping as much of the fat in the pan as possible. Add the diced pork to the pan, season it with salt and pepper and the allspice, and cook until the pork is golden brown and a crust forms in the bottom of the pot.

Return the pancetta to the pan and add the onions, carrot, celery, garlic, portabellas, bay leaf, and sage. Cook this mixture until the veggies are very tender, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the crust from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Lift the reconstituted mushrooms out of the stock with a slotted spoon and chop them. Add the mushrooms to the pot, then stir in the 3½ cups of mushroom-fortified stock a few ladles at a time. Reduce the heat under the sugo to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, break them up with a wooden spoon, and simmer for 30 minutes more, or until the meat is very tender and the sauce is very thick. Discard the bay leaf and adjust the seasonings. The sugo should be thick but not stiff. If it is too thick, add more of the mushroom stock, leaving the last few spoonfuls of stock in the pot as the mushrooms may have released some grit while they were soaking.

To serve with pasta
After the stew has been cooking for about 30 minutes, place a large pot of water over high heat and bring it to a boil. Salt the water, add the pasta, and cook to al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with half the sugo and the grated Parmigiano. Combine the ricotta with the parsley and honey. Serve the sugo and pasta in shallow bowls topped with extra sauce and a generous couple of spoonfuls of ricotta to stir in.

To serve with polenta
When the sauce is ready to serve, bring the chicken stock and milk to a boil over medium-high heat in a sauce pot. Whisk in the polenta and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the polenta thickens. Stir in the butter, Parmigiano, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve the polenta in shallow bowls topped with a generous ladle of sugo. Pass extra cheese at the table.

These HUGE big-flavored beef meatballs are a spicy favorite of two guys I truly love, my husband, John, and our friend Danny DeVito, who really knows how to take a bite outta life.

SERVES 6

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Place the torn-up bread in a small bowl and pour the milk over it; set aside to soak.

Place a roasting pan on the counter. Add a healthy drizzle of EVOO to the pan, about 1 tablespoon. Add the canned tomatoes to the pan and crush with a potato masher or a wooden spoon. Season the tomatoes liberally with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the ground sirloin, the remaining tablespoon of EVOO, the garlic, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, allspice, Parmigiano, pine nuts, currants, egg, and salt and pepper. Squeeze out the excess milk from the soaking bread—it should be loose and in small pieces—then add it to the meat mixture. Discard the milk.

Form the meatball mixture into 12 baseball-size balls, each about 3 inches in diameter, and place them in the roasting pan, nestling them into the tomatoes. Roast until the meatballs are brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Place the ciabatta, unwrapped, in the oven to heat when the meatballs are just about done. Tear the warm, crusty bread into large pieces.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and arrange the torn pieces of crusty bread in and around the meatballs and sauce. Stir the ricotta cheese together with the basil, season with salt and pepper, and pass at the table. Complement each serving of 2 large meatballs with 2 to 3 tablespoons of cool ricotta spooned alongside.

Braised Short Ribs with Roasted Beets and Creamy Polenta

Aside from Thanksgiving, this meal is the first slow-cooked dish I've served to company in years! When I made it for some true foodies, a few great chefs among them, dinner was silent—a good sign, as they were all too busy eating to chat! My friend Fleur brought dessert, but for me the sweetest treat was the compliments to the chef. (I guess I'm not so bad at this cooking stuff after all.) This meal is time and labor intensive, but it is very much worth the effort, and if I can do it, you can, too.

SERVES 6

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Place a large, heavy-bottomed pan, such as a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Generously season all sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper and dust with ½ cup of the flour. When the pan is scorching hot, add half the short ribs to the pan and sear them until deep golden brown all over, 8 to 10 minutes total, turning the ribs as each side becomes nice and brown. Remove the short ribs, wipe the pot clean, and heat another 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Brown the remaining short ribs.

Once all of the short ribs have been seared, add half of the pomegranate juice, the paprika, allspice, and bay leaf to the pan. Scrape up all the golden brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and bring the juice up to a bubble. Boil until it reduces by about half, 4 to 5 minutes.

Return the seared ribs to the pot and add 4 cups of the beef stock. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Braise until the ribs are very tender, about 2 hours, leaving the pot undisturbed.

When the ribs have been braising for an hour, drizzle the beets with the remaining tablespoon of EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Wrap them in foil and place them into the oven along with the meat and roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle them, about 10 minutes. Rub the beets gently with paper towels to remove their skins, cut them into quarters, and reserve.