Rosticciana

I thought I would start posting a traditional Tuscan recipe every so often, in case you would like to know what real Tuscan food is all about.

The first recipe I am going to share with you is called rosticciana.  Rosticciana is a traditional Tuscan dish made with 6 ingredients:  pork ribs, rosemary, garlic, water, salt, and white wine.  It's super easy, but it will take some time before you can eat it.

First thing you must do is cut the pork ribs into sections, about an inch to an inch and a half thick.  Place them into a large frying pan and stick some rosemary branches around them.  Peel  some garlic cloves and put them in the pan, too.

Pour a glass of water over it all, put a lid on it, and cook on low to medium-low heat for about an hour.  Be sure to turn the ribs every so often until the water has completely evaporated.  (If after an hour the water still hasn't evaporated, remove the lid & cook it until the water disappears.)

Increase the heat to medium and sprinkle the ribs with some salt (I use sea salt, personally).

Pour in a glass of white wine (about 6-8 ounces) and let it reduce gently.  Make sure to turn the ribs frequently so that the ribs brown evenly on all sides.

When it's done, serve it with spinaci alla Fiorentina (Florentine style spinach).

What's that?  You don't know how to make spinaci alla Fiorentina??  Argh.  Ok, ok...here:

Get a bag of spinach.  Get two bags if you're going to be feeding more than one or two people.  Rinse the leaves in water.  (I dump the bag of spinach into a big colander and run cold water over them, then toss them around to get a lot of the water out.)

Pour some olive oil in the bottom of a deep pan.  I don't measure my olive oil, I just pour it.  You want to get just enough in there to coat the bottom of the pan.

Dump the spinach into the pan.

Put a lid on it and cook it over medium heat.

While it's cooking, slice up a couple cloves of garlic.

Check on the spinach.  It won't take too long to cook down.  When it does, sprinkle in some salt and toss in the sliced garlic.

Saute, and when the garlic is cooked...it's ready to eat!

Buon Appetito!